Still Loving You
by japanesefantasy
Summary: He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku AU
1. We've Been Doing This For Three Months

Reader: Zomg! Another ItaSaku?! No wayz!

JF: Yes wayz. The plot has been in my head for months. An ItaSaku I hope that you will enjoy. It is AU therefore please expect them to be,somewhat, out of character :)

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

_Time, it needs time  
To win back your love again.  
I will be there, I will be there_

* * *

"Unfortunate events follow one after the other. The decomposing body of seven-year old Kaneshiro Akahana, that had been reported missing, was recently found in a dark alley nude, brutally raped, and killed. Similar to the rest of the victims, honey was found on her tongue. Her traumatized parents along with others are pleading with the police to hasten their searches and to find the serial rapist.

"Next on the news—" The television set buzzed off at the command of the remote control pointing towards it. A distressed sigh left her lips as the control made contact with the couch after being dropped next to the small bag. She had had a long day at the hospital and coming home to see such reports disturbed her greatly, especially since she had a daughter of her own. She didn't know what she would have done if someone interfered with her precious child. Kill them? It was a possibility.

With the turn of her head, short roseate locks brushed against her shoulder as fiery emerald eyes darted protectively over her daughter, who was currently standing by the window as if expecting someone. A few seconds passed before the little girl squealed.

"Daddy's here!" The engine roared louder and louder until it suddenly stopped after being denied further gasoline. The woman picked up the luggage beside her and rose to her feet. As always, her daughter would race her to the door to greet the young lass' father. Coal eyes twinkling with innocence, little Komachi smiled brightly to the man standing mere inches in front of her.

Lengthy legs bent and hands shot out to receive his daughter. And she rushed into her father's arms like water bursting from a dam.

"How's my baby girl?" he asked while stretching his legs and regaining his posture, daughter in arms.

"I'm good," she replied curtly and then proceeded to kiss his cheek.

"Hey," the soft feminine voice evolved from the midst. The young man then turned his attention to the female before him.

"Hey," he repeated. "How are you?" He added a smile, one that still forced goosebumps to break out on her skin.

"I'm fine."

"That's good to hear." Eyes behind shades remained locked with hers until she broke the silence.

"Here's her bag." Dainty hands passed the weight onto the male, who easily accepted it. "Her clothes are in the bigger section and her books are in the smaller one. Make sure she bathes and does her homework before—"

"Sakura," he interrupted while tilting his head, ebony bangs cascading to the side.

"What?" she asked, utterly confused. A soft chuckled sounded at her bewilderment.

"We've been doing this for three months. I think I know what I'm supposed to do." He lowered his head at her, in an attempt to emphasize his point.

"I know. It's just..."

"Just?" They stood there in silence before she shook her head.

"Nothing." Lips curled positively as she approached their princess. "Goodbye sweetie. Mommy will see you on Monday. You can call me if you need anything." Receiving a nod as a response, she stepped back and they took their leave.

After descending the flight of stairs that led to Sakura's apartment, Uchiha Itachi dumped the luggage into the back seat of his black Honda Civic before going around to the front and safely strapping up his daughter in shotgun position. He then went over to the driver's seat and tucked himself in also before turning the key and starting the engine.

Soon, the wind was beating their faces. Green light to yellow and to red, Itachi pressed the brakes at the traffic light. He turned toward his daughter, who seemed busy playing with the hem of her skirt.

"So how was school today honey?" Her head shot up, coffee brown tresses flying to the side.

"School was okay. We got to paint today. "She looked at him, pride smothering her expression.

"Is that so?"

"Mm hmm!" The light converted to green. Cars adjacent to him roared and drove off. He fiddled with the hand breaks and left his neutral position behind.

"Ooh!" Dark eyes lit up as an ice cream outlet came into view on the left. "Can we go for ice cream?" she asked.

"You know what you mother says about sugar before dinner," he disciplined gently.

"Alright," she huffed out, arms folded and lips pouting. She may have had her father's eyes but she definitely had her mother's pout. He smirked before tapping his indicator upwards and cautiously gliding to the left and pulling into the parking area. Small eyes widened in astonishment at where her father had stopped.

"But she doesn't have to know, right?"

"Right!"

* * *

"Now if you had two dollies, and mommy and I gave you three dollies for Christmas, how much would you have?"

"Mmm..." Komachi resorted to finger counting. She held out her palm and pointed at each pad as she counted. "Two... three... four... five!"

"Right. Now write it down." They were situated at a desk in the studying room, father to the right of his daughter who was scribbling down the answer.

"Now if you had eleven dollies but you lost five of them, how much would you have?"

"Uhm... five, six... seven... eight... nine... ten... eleven. Six!"

"Very good honey," Itachi encouraged. And this kept up until thirty minutes has passed. He packed her things away before leading her to the bathroom. While Komachi took off her clothes, her father saw about the bathtub, twisting the tap open and adjusting the temperature to a desirable one. He looked across to his daughter, who was stark naked and trying to reach her bath buddy that was high up on the shelf. He smiled warmly before deciding to aid her by hoisting her.

"Thank you, daddy." She giggled as Itachi carried her to the tub swiftly, like an airplane.

"Good evening ladies and rubber duckies, this is your air host speaking. We're ten seconds away from landing, so hold on tight." Komachi laughed at her father's mimic of an air hostess before he lowered her into the apparent lake with speed. He pulled breaks right as her toes dipped into water and partially submerged her.

"You liked that honey?" he asked, smiling and rolling up his sleeves.

"Uh huh," she answered while nodding. Itachi fetched a small bucket, dunked it under the surface and brought it back out only to empty it on his daughter. The little girl stood up as her father bent across to retrieve the soap. With lather in his hands, he brought her closer to the edge and proceeded to wash her thoroughly. After rinsing, she sat back down and grabbed her duck, that had floated astray. The Uchiha then squeezed shampoo into his hands and rubbed it all in her hair.

"Close your eyes." And she listened, pale lids hiding coal eyes. More water gushed over her. Making sure all the soap suds were washed off, he yanked out the plug and left to return with her towel. She didn't have to be told, for she had already stepped out onto the mat, soaked. The young man stooped and began to dry her hair and body. When he was finished, he wrapped her with the fuzzy material and took her to her room.

* * *

"Goodnight Komachi." He kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight daddy."She lay in bed still, tucked underneath her warm securing blanket, with Mr. Snuggles in her arms.

"Sweet dreams." He regained his posture and walked to the door only to turn around and smile before exiting. And his smile vanished.

He entered their room and then their bathroom to take a bath. With his head hung down, he allowed the shower head to spout steaming water on him. He had two problems hanging around his head. First was that damn pedophile still running around uncaught. As head of his department, stress embedded itself in his shoulders and the responsibility of a policeman grew day by day.

"And Sakura." He sighed out. The tap was switched off and a towel put to his head before being slung around his hips. He reentered the bedroom, beads of water dragging downward his torso. A pair of brown boxers was slipped on before the towel was discarded into the pile of unclean materials in a corner. He then resorted to the bed, leaning against the bedhead. The second hand on the clocked ticked away but time seemed to stand still. Life always appeared to drag without her.

Hands automatically shot out the the drawer at the side of the table. A picture frame with the two of them; Uchiha Itachi and Sakura or as she preferred, Haruno Sakura. Calloused fingers traced strawberry locks longing to run themselves through her hair. A gorgeous smiled painted on her lips. What a joyous day it had been.

But who would have thought that their relationship would have ended up like this?

Dark eyes continued to roam over the photograph until the soft rapping of knuckles on the door sounded.

"Daddy?" He answered after returning the frame to the drawer quickly but carefully.

"Yes sweetie." She opened the door a bit and poked her head through the opening as if examining her environment for any dangers before entering.

"Can I come in?" she inquired softly.

"Come," he beckoned her. The door widened and she stepped into the room, a raccoon plushy in hand. "What's wrong?" She trod right up to him and responded.

"Can I sleep with you?" Contentment displaced worry. Hands under arms, Itachi held her and transferred her from the tiles to the warmth of the bed. He slid down to rest on the mattress and allowed his daughter to scurry over to him, his chest her makeshift pillow.

"Daddy?"

"Yes honey?"

"When will mommy and I come back to live here with you?" She was asking him the same question over and over, since her mother did not like it. And his answer was the same as well.

"Don't worry. Daddy is still trying to work out something." He paused before continuing. "Now go to sleep. We have to wake up early in the morning."

"I love you daddy," she whispered before slowly dozing of to dreamland followed by her father after replying.

"I love you too."

* * *

Saturday morning. Like a ritual, Komachi would accompany her father at work.

"Ready Komachi?" She was still situated by the table, finishing her breakfast when he posed the question. As soon as the empty glass hit the table, she answered.

"Uh huh." She hopped off the stool and ran toward the taller of the two, her small hand lodged with his left since his right was occupied with his briefcase. Together they exited the house, door now locked, and approached the car. Within fifteen minutes, they arrived at the office.

As always, he was the first to reach. Fishing out keys from pocket, Itachi unlocked the door to the building and entered after his daughter. As the switches flipped on, fluorescent light flooded the rooms.

"Deidara!" Itachi yelled, startled to see the blond seated behind his desk. "Man, what the f— hell are you doing in the dark?"

"Scared the crap outta ya, didn't I?" He rose to his feet and approached the man, grin tugging lips.

"Uncle Deidara!" The little girl lunged at the young man and into his arms she went.

"Shut up." The Uchiha passed him straight and sat at his desk. "I hope you haven't been messing around here."

"You know me better than that Itachi." He turned to look at Komachi, whose legs were locked around his waist. "Nothing much. Just a few prank calls at Sakura's," Deidara mentioned casually.

"What?!"

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy. I was only joking. I know not to mess with that." Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. He very well knew that despite his circumstances, his co-worker and friend was capable of screwing things up.

"Anyways, I better get to work." He let his friend's daughter down. "Want some paper?"

"Uh huh." Taking his hand, Komachi was led to the printer and handed a few blank sheets. "Thank you Uncle Deidara," she squeaked out with a smile. She then went into an empty room where a desk and chair were situated.

"Man this case is killing me." The blond pulled at his hair, yanking a few yellow strands. "And I'm going bald!"

"We need to catch this guy, and fast." Both heads turned as the door opened, revealing a tall man with pale blue skin.

"You're late," Itachi stated.

"Well," Kisame started. "I had to pick up Dollie, but he was too busy puttin' on make-up."

"Where is he?"

"I'm right here." Ruffled red locks carpeted his head while hazelnuts roamed about the room. Itachi then cut out the play and introduced the work.

"Good. Now that we're all here, let's get started."

* * *

"Thank you Dr. Uchiha." The relieved mother, with her teenage daughter, left her desk and exit the room, closing the door behind.

"It's Haruno," she silently yelled at the pair of females, not that they heard. The most irritating this is to be called Uchiha after separating from the bastard. Couldn't people get that straight. Haruno!

"Hey."

"What?!" Sakura screamed at the person who had just entered her office. When she glanced, hey fiery jade eyes caught a glimpse of chocolate brown hair. "Neji?"

"Caught you at a bad time?" He asked while entering with two chilled bottles of water in his hand. Hers shot up to her hair, fingernail softly scratching at the scalp while lips gave way to a sheepish laugh.

"Kinda."

"Patients still calling you 'Uchiha'?" He sat himself in front of her and handed her a water.

"Yeah, thanks." He just sat there, looking at her and smiling. After a sip of the thirst quenching liquid, she soon caught onto his stare, cheeks turning a brighter hue.

"How is Komachi? Haven't seen her since her last check up."

"She's great. She's by her father now."

"That's good. Tell her I said 'Hi' when you get a chance." He stood. "Anyways, just checking on you. Gotta get back to work. Lots of kids and their parents waiting for me our there."

"Sure thing."

"Later." As soon as he left, her lips broke out into a smile. As much as she hated it, she was still trying to get over her husband. And there was Neji, unknowingly helping her. Smart, kind, sweet guy that likes kids, and not to mention handsome. What more could Sakura want?

* * *

A/N: Chapter one completed. Hope that you guys have enjoyed it thoroughly. Please comment. Reviews brighten my day :)


	2. No More Of This, No More

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku AU

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

Chapter 2

* * *

A new day rolled on. It was Sunday and Itachi loved Sundays. He only had to work for half the day and apart from getting away from Deidara's nonstop goofing off, he was able to spend some actual quality time with his daughter.

"Harder daddy!" Cries of excitement slipped passed small cherry lips as her father complied to her wishes and increased his force applied to the swing.

"Harder!" Her screams continued until her father intervened.

"Alright Komachi. It's getting late." She took one more swing before hopping off, and ran towards her father.

"Can you carry me?" she asked most innocently with a grin, exposing all her front teeth that would eventually fall out, plastered on her face. How did he know that this was coming? Yet, how could he turn down such a cute face? He turned about and stooped down for her to attach herself to him, like a parasite. And off they went, trekking toward the house.

* * *

"Do I _have_ to leave?" Itachi held his daughter's bag while walking to the car.

"If you don't, you mother will call the police and tell them that I kidnapped you."

Funny thing because, he _was _the police.

Moist coal eyes lowered to the ground. Yet, she continued to protest. "But I hardly get to see you daddy." She pouted and folded her arms at the door, signaling resistance.

"Komachi." Itachi's stern voice reached her. Komachi very well knew not to get her father upset when he used _that _voice. Breathing out a sigh of defeat, she strutted to the car and hopped into the front seat. Within minutes, they were cruising down the road to her mother's.

Just then, Itachi's cellular phone went off. Fishing into his pocket, he retrieved the ringing item, checked the caller ID and answered the call, as if annoyed.

"Yes Deidara."

"You're dropping Komachi by Sakura tonight, right?"

"On the way actually," he stated with a small matter of concern as to why he would want to know that.

"Really? Good! 'Cause I have this great idea of how to get her back." At this, dark eyes rolled before returning their attention to the road ahead. "When you get there, have Komachi sent to her room and then grab Sakura and kiss her madly before explaining that you want her ba—"

_Beep_

Itachi cut him off and slipped his cellular phone back into his pants pocket. He knew better than to listen to Deidara's so-called advice that could get him killed. And knowing Itachi, Deidara knew not to call back again. Ten more minutes of driving, and they arrived at the apartments.

After getting out of the car, Itachi locked it and walked his daughter upstairs until they met up with a door with the number _16. _A single finger pad pushed the doorbell and the oak barrier swung open.

"Hey sweetie." Her mother stooped to Komachi's level to receive her. Reluctantly, she walked into her mother's arms before being picked up.

"Thanks for taking care of her." This was directed to Itachi.

"I'm her father, Sakura."

"Right," she said, as if forgetting the obvious fact.

"Komachi." Said girl turned to the man that called her.

"Yes daddy?"

"Could you go to your room? I want to talk to your mother." Sakura looked at him suspiciously before letting Komachi down and off to her room.

"What is it Itachi?" She set one hand on her hip and shifted her weight to the other foot.

"Well..." His adrenaline concentration increased tenfold, his heart thumping faster, threatening to burst through his chest. With sweaty palms, he grabbed her by the shoulders earning a yelp.

"What the hell are you doing Itachi?" Her expression presented itself as perplexed.

She was right. What the hell was he doing? Was he actually listening to Deidara's advice and about kiss her? Was he trying to get her back or get himself killed?

He shook his head as if regaining his senses. He then released her and dusted his palms off on his pants.

"Er... I thought I saw something in the back." She turned around to see what he was talking about but nothing of question came into view. Yet she let it slide.

"Okay. So what do you want to talk about?" Man, she looked upset and he was not in the mood to explain what exactly he was about to do.

"It's nothing." He turned to leave but then said, "Tell Komachi I said 'Bye'."

"Sure." She closed the door after he left. Unconcerned with Itachi, Sakura ascended the flight of stairs to check on her daughter.

Meanwhile, Itachi was talking to himself, raising his arms in the air and waving them about as if arguing with someone.

"Stupid, stupid!" By now, he was in the car, still in the compound. "Yeah, like kissing her would make things better. Good going, Itachi." He sat back and breathed in slowly until he relaxed and switched on the engine. After exhaling a long breath, he drove off. "Wait til the guys at work hear about this."

* * *

"You _what?!_" Kisame screamed in the office.

"Look, I didn't mean to. My head was spinning," Itachi offered his excuses, defending his actions. They were on their lunch break, eating food from a cafe down the road.

"That's what happens when you listen to dumb blonds," Sasori added, his voice droopy.

"Hey!" Deidara yelled back.

"Next time you're lookin' for advice, call me or Sasori. Got it?" A thin blue eyebrow rose in question, waiting for a response.

"I wasn't looking for advice." Itachi sipped on his coffee before continuing. "He just called."

Sasori spoke up again. "Maybe he wants to screw up what's left of your marriage."

"What marriage?" Itachi hung his head after his statement. "It's hopeless."

"It's only hopeless if you make it hopeless." Kisame patted his back, attempting to encourage his friend. "If you need anything, we're here to help you."

"Thanks guys."

* * *

"And he grabs me and then I'm like 'What the hell are you doing?'" Widened emerald eyes soon made contact with chocolate brown. The young man in front of her smirked, and shortly replied.

"He wants you back."

"You think so?"

"Why wouldn't he want you back?" Sakura's head shot up at his question, her mind fighting whether to accept it as a compliment or not.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Sakura." Neji sat back against the seat in the restaurant. "You're gorgeous, smart, strong—" He stopped talking as his eyes roamed across the results of his words; a flushed female doctor who was at a loss for words.

"Wow..." She blinked several times before catching her thoughts. "Y-You think so?"

"Sure I do." His statement inflamed her cheeks, causing them to grow redder. He chuckled before leaning against the table and continuing. "I wouldn't lie to you, Sakura." And to finish of his statement, he smiled at her. Sakura quickly looked away, embarrassed by the fact that he was making her blush. To counter the heat building within her, she extended her hand for her glass of water and sipped on it.

"Well I'm finished," she said in an attempt to change the topic, receiving a nod.

"Check please," he said to the passing waitress. She nodded and returned to them with the bill. The young doctor dug into her bag and pulled out her purse only to be stopped by a hand.

"It's on me, Sakura." She looked up.

"You sure?"

"Yea. It's nothing." He smiled at her before fishing out his wallet and paying the required amount.

"Thanks Neji."

"Like I said, it was nothing." Cheeks tinged pink once again. She rose up from her seat and followed her fellow doctor outside to the parking lot.

"Mind if I stop by at the grocery?" he asked while they both got into the car.

"Not a problem."

"Ran out of lollipops for the kids." He started the engine and fed it gasoline, the roaring growing. He then drove off and headed for the building.

All the while, Sakura kept glancing at the man next to her. He gave lollipops to his patients? That explained why the children liked him. If only Itachi could have been like him...

_Snap out of it! _

"Is something wrong Sakura?" It took a while to register the fact that Neji had asked her a question.

"Sorry." She shook her head and then turned to him. "What did you say?"

"I asked if anything was wrong." He raised an eyebrow before returning his attention to the road.

"No. Everything's fine."

* * *

"Hey honey. How was your day?"

"It was alright." Komachi bit her lip while fiddling with the seat belt. Her mother has just picked her up from school and they were heading home.

"What did you do in school today?" Sakura turned the steering wheel to the left, taking off in that direction.

"We learned about nouns."

"So what is a noun?"

"A noun is a name, animal, place or thing," she answered after having it pounded into her head.

"That's great." Sakura kept driving until she met a red light. "Guess what?"

"What mommy?"

"Dr. Hyuuga sent something for you."

"Really?" Dark eyes lit up as a smile broadened on her face. Her mother ruffled her daughter's hair before going into her handbag to pull out green candy on a stick. "A lollipop!"

"Here you go." She handed the little girl the treat.

"Thank you mommy!" Happiness drowned Sakura's heart to see her daughter satisfied with such a simple thing. If only she could be that way...

* * *

The sun was setting on them. They were currently situated in the bathtub, Sakura's back resting against the rim while her daughter straddled her hips.

"Can we visit daddy tonight?" She looked up at her mother, eyes pleading a nod.

"I'm afraid not."

"What about tomorrow?" Tiny fingers played with the pendant of Doctor Uchiha's chain.

"Komachi. We aren't going to visit him."

"But I miss daddy." The daughter dropped her hands and hung her head. "Why aren't we living with daddy?"

"It's complicated honey." After that, Komachi hushed. "But we both still love you very much."

No response, except for damp eyes.

"It's not fair."

"Oh, honey. Please don't cry." But she did the exact opposite.

"I want daddy!" She began to thrash around in the water, wetting the tiles around the tub. Screams burst through her lips, indicating no sign of stopping.

"Komachi, be quiet." Motherly arms wrapped around the child in an attempt to calm her.

"I want my daddy!"

"That's it." Sakura rose, with Komachi in arms and headed toward the closet to pull out two towels.

"Let me go!" the little girl quarreled while kicking up. "Let me go!"

"Komachi, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you will behave now." Stern emeralds lashed out at the child, earning silence. With that, Sakura was able to dry her, as well as herself and dress both of them.

It was eight-thirty PM by then and the young doctor put Komachi to bed. Much to her dismay, her daughter was still crying over the matter.

"Goodnight sweetie. Mommy loves you." Cherry lips pressed against the small forehead before removing themselves. Komachi turned away, not returning the farewell for the night. Sakura straightened her back and exited the room, looking at the girl in the bed one last time and then closing the door. Eyes welled with tears at once. She hated seeing her daughter cry like that. Especially about her father.

"You'll understand why when you get older, Komachi." Her heart clenched as her daughter innocently suffered from the effects of separation. But it wasn't like she could do anything about it anymore. She had tried several times in the past but nothing seemed to work.

Putting her daughter's soon-to-fade sadness passed her, she made her way to her room and fell asleep on her queen sized bed.

* * *

Itachi sat on the bed, toweling his hair dry. He sure had a long day and coming home would seem like a relief.

But it didn't. As a matter of fact, coming home made it worse.

He was all alone in the house. The king sized bed fit for two was now fit for one. Miserably, he flung the towel on the bed and opened his drawer, taking out a small black velvet box. He opened it, revealing two gold rings, one plain and the other accentuated with diamond.

_"I can't do this anymore Itachi." _

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I can't... I'm so sorry." She peeled the rings of her fourth finger and placed them into his palm. "It's not working out." She turned toward the little girl beside her. "Let's go, Komachi."_

_"But I don't wanna leave." _

_"We have to."_

_"Sakura, please!" He leaped toward her and grabbed her arm. "Just one more chance."_

_"That's what you said last time." _

_"Just one last chance. I promise—"_

_"No!" She turned to him, tears blinding jade eyes. "No more of this... no more." _

He blinked before returning to the present. After returning the box to the drawer, he plopped onto the bed and turned to his side, eyes boring where she used to lay.

_I love you, Itachi... _

As quickly as her image appeared, it faded. It seemed as if his past was mocking him.

"No more of this," he determined to himself. "No more."

* * *

JF: Well, that was the second chapter. I'm glad that you guys like the story. I was going for something original, thanks AnimeProtector. And by the way, this story has nothing to do with COH COM, so please don't get confused. I was just advertiseing SLY in COH COM. Please comment and tell me where I can improve. It would be very appreciated.


	3. Another Kidnapping?

* * *

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

* * *

Chapter 3

The doorbell rang.

"Komachi, hurry up. You're father's here," Sakura bellowed to her daughter upstairs. As soon as she heard this, their daughter ran down the staircase, in a blue jersey and purple frilled skirt.

"Daddy!" she cried as she sprinted toward the police officer at the door.

"Hey baby." He stooped down to receive her. "I missed you a lot." She hooked her arms around his neck, never wanting to let him go.

"I missed you too." He pecked her cheek and smiled. Half of his joy would be staying over for the weekend.

"Did mommy tell you about my parents' day?" Komachi innocently leaked. Itachi looked up at her mother, questioningly.

"No," he answered. "But I'm sure she would have told me. Right, Sakura?" He aimed this at her.

"Right." He caught a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Well, I _will _be coming to it," he stated, as if getting back at her. Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes before replying.

"Well, that's great." She tried her best to smile, a crooked one appearing. "Anyway, goodbye sweetie. If you need anything—"

"I'll call you. I know mommy," Komachi finished off the sentence, while lolling her head from side to side, as if stating the obvious. This did earn a rumble in the throat of the male Uchiha, a smirk on his face.

"Later Sakura."

"Alright." She closed the door after they left and returned to the couch, and switched on the television.

"Parents of Hijikata Hina are pleading with her kidnappers to release her, unharmed. It seems that this girl is another victim of the serial rapist in the town.

"Next on the news—" She switched the box off. Another kidnapping?

Sakura bent forward and rocked gently back and forth. As the days passed, her worry for her daughter grew restlessly. She prayed nonstop that her daughter would be kept safe at her father's and at her school.

But would she be able to protect Komachi? She'd be damned if anything happened to her while she was with her. As much as she hated it, when compared to her, Itachi was more than capable of protecting their daughter. But nevertheless, she was thankful.

* * *

"So what is this parents' day about?" Itachi held the slice of pizza to his mouth and shoved half of it in.

"Well, my parents are supposed to come and tell the class what they do at their jobs." Both hands grabbed the glass of orange juice brought it to small lips.

"Anf ren ijs dris?" Itachi mumbled, the fast food still in his mouth. His daughter giggled at the language he had created.

"What did you say daddy?" He closed in on her, forehead to forehead and repeated what he said slowly.

"Anf... ren... ijs... dris?" She giggled again and poked his cheek that was full of the dough.

"You need to swallow first before you speak daddy!"

"Ijs drat sro?" He straightened his back and finished of the food in his mouth before speaking properly. "And when is this?" Now that she was able to understand her father, she answered him.

"On Monday."

"And I'm assuming that it's at the end of class."

"How did you know?" she asked, astounded.

"Well, it wouldn't make sense to come during the day to leave and to come back for you."

"You're so smart daddy!" He stuffed more of the pizza in his mouth.

"Ov coursh I arm." At that moment, his cell phone buzzed off. Itachi quickly swallowed and checked the caller ID before answering.

"Yes Sasori."

"Did you see the news."

"No. What happened?

"Another girl went missing."

"Another one? Damn it man... what the hell?"

"Yea. So maybe we can meet at the office a little earlier to head down to the parents' home and ask questions."

"That's good. I'll call Deidara."

"Alright. I'll call Kisame. Is six-thirty a good time."

"Yea, that's cool."

"Alright Itachi. Later."

"Later." _click. _Itachi dialed the seven numbers with speed, waiting for his co-worker to pick up. After several times calling, Deidara finally answered.

"Uhh Itachi, I'm kinda busy with the wife... you know?"

"I didn't need to know that. Anyway, the guys are meeting at the office for six-thirty."

"In the morning?"

"Yea."

"B-But, I gotta cuddle with the wifey."

"Baby, who is that?"

"Look man, I gotta go."

"Six-thirty. Be there." _click. _

Itachi looked at his daughter and hugged her. He'd kill himself before Sakura could do anything to him if that damned pedophile took her. Thin lips pressed against a small forehead.

"You okay baby?"

"Uh huh. Is something wrong daddy?"

"As long as you're okay, nothing's wrong." He held her for a bit longer before asking his question. "You mind going by grandma tomorrow?"

"Gramma Mikoto?"

"Yea."

"Really? I haven't seen her so long."

"Then it's settled." Itachi flipped out his cell phone once more and dialed their number.

"Goodnight?"

"Mom, it's Itachi."

"Oh hello dear. How is everything."

"Things could be better. I was wondering if I could drop off Komachi by you early. I gotta go to the office for six-thirty."

"No problem sweetie."

"Alright. See you tomorrow mom."

"Love you."

"Love you too." _click. _

* * *

"Good morning sweetie." The woman at the door leaned forward to kiss her son.

"Hey mom."

"And who could this be?" Komachi laughed at her grandmother's feign moment of amnesia.

"It's me grandma. Komachi!" Itachi passed his daughter to his mother.

"And how are you?"

"I'm good." The little girl quickly pecked her grandmother before waving to her father.

"Buh bye daddy."

"I'll pick you up when work's done. Bye." He turned around and headed to the car, jumped in and drove off.

* * *

"Good morning ma'am. We're officers slash investigators at the main Police Office in Konoha. We'd like to ask a few questions about your daughter. If you don't mind, may we come in?" Itachi, Deidara, Kisame and Sasori held out their badges for the woman at the door, proof of their profession.

"Sure..." She stepped aside and let them walk in. "Can I get you anything to drink." All of them shook their heads and sat at various places in the living room.

"Is your husband home?"

"Yes, he's in the back."

"Can you call him for us?"

"Sure." She stepped out, to return with her husband.

"Good morning sir. We're officer's slash investigators from the Konoha Police Officer."

"About our daughter?"

"Yes. Both of you, please take a seat." They both sat down together, hands held tightly together. Itachi then proceeded with the questions. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday morning," the woman answered. "I dropped her to school before leaving for work."

"And what time was this?"

"Around seven-fifteen." Sasori scribbled down the information on his pad and nodded to Itachi to continue.

"And when did you realize she went missing?"

"Well, her school ends at two o'clock. I got there at ten past, and waited fifteen minutes. When I didn't see her coming, I got out of the car and asked the guard if she saw my daughter. The guard said that some man, claiming to be her uncle, picked her up." Tears clogged her voice. "But we didn't arrange for anyone to pick her up." She stopped, unable to continue.

"At that point, she called me and told me what happened," the woman's husband finished for her. "I'm an only child and my wife has one sister. So we don't know who took her."

"Alright. What school does your daughter attend?" Itachi looked over at Sasori, silently telling him to write down the incoming information.

"Konoha Private Learning Centre." Itachi froze for about five seconds, letting the name of the school sink in. _Konoha Private Learning Centre..._ As soon as the information registered, his head shot up in a dash of silent panic. Komachi was attending that same school. The other guys soon recognized the name and turned their attention to their friend.

"I'm going to have a word with that security guard there." He soon found his seat rather uncomfortable. "Please continue."

"When we realized that someone took her, we went looking all over the place. We then came home and searched to see if they dropped her off. But she wasn't there. We checked the phone for any messages, and this person left one. They said that they had our daughter and not to expect her back home." His shoulders started to shake with depression, their baby gone.

"Could we hear that message?"

"Sure." Mr. Hijikata stood and approached the phone, pressing the button to hear the message. An obscured voice echoed throughout the room.

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Hijikata. By now you should realize that your lovely little Hina has gone missing. Not to worry, she's safe with me... for now." The person chuckled before speaking. "Oh, did you know that she has a birthmark on her inner thigh? Makes me wanna kiss it." There was a pause before a muffled scream was heard. Mrs. Hijikata began to cry uncontrollably. "She smells good... real good. Anyway, I'm going now. Gonna enjoy this little girl here. Later." _beep._

"NO!" the little girl's mother screamed, after being held back by her husband. "Why?!" The Uchiha sighed before saying his usual statement.

"Ma'am, we the police will try our best to find your daughter and return her to you."

As unfortunate as it was, Itachi and the gang had to leave them in order to further their investigations.

* * *

After discussing the situation back at the office, it was concluded that Itachi would have a word with the security guard after Komachi's parents' job day. Hopefully, it wouldn't be late by then.

By now, it was dusk, and the Uchiha was doing numbers on the streets, to his mother's. As soon as the white flat with green roof came into view, the force applied to the accelerator decreased and so too, the speed of the car. Stepping out of the car after parking it, Itachi closed the door and walked up to the house, and knocked.

The door had swung open, and there stood in front of him, a miniature version of himself, no more than five years younger than him, short locks instead of long.

"Mom, Itachi's here," the younger of the two shouted into the house. He stepped aside and allowed Itachi to enter before closing the door and locking it.

"How are things Sasuke?" the older Uchiha asked.

"Things aren't so cool. I'm looking for a job now, but no one seems to be accepting me."

"That's too bad."

"Honey!" Their mother came from the kitchen to greet her first born.

"Hey mom. How are you?"

"A little tired. But I'm fine. Komachi is upstairs sleeping." She smiled before continuing. "There's some orange juice in the fridge if you want."

"Sure."

"Itachi, get some for me will ya?"

"Right." Itachi exited the room and returned with one glass of the yellow liquid in his hand.

"Where's mine?" Sasuke asked.

"God gave you legs. Use them," he said before sipping on his. This earned him a grunt.

"So how is Sakura, honey?" Itachi looked up before looking back down and swirling the ice blocks with his index finger.

"She seems to be fine."

"Still chasing after her, bro?"

"Shut up Sasuke."

"Face it. She dumped your sorry ass."

"At least I have a job. No one wants to hire your sorry ass."

"Children! Behave yourselves," Mikoto cut in with sternness in her eyes.

"Sorry mom," they both said.

"Daddy?" Itachi's head swiveled about, dark eyes catching his daughter running from the back to where he was. "Daddy, I missed you!"

"Hey baby, I missed you too." He picked her up and sat her on his lap. "How was your day?"

"I helped grandma bake cookies today."

"And Uncle Sasuke?"

"Uncle Sasuke is _so_ boring!" She folded her arms and pouted.

"No I'm not!" the younger male Uchiha responded.

"Yes you are." At this, Itachi turned to his brother and laughed at him. "You didn't want to bake cookies."

"That's my girl," her father commented while ruffling her brown tresses. "Anyway, Komachi and I are making a move."

"Alright honey," Mikoto said while rising to her feet. "Please, take some cookies with you."

"Yes gramma!" Komachi followed her grandmother into the kitchen and later came running to her father with a container in her hand, screaming, "Thank you gramma!"

"Let's go, baby."

* * *

Yes I know it's short sorry! But still review, thanks ^^ Hoped you enjoyed it :)


	4. A Great Way To Meet People

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

* * *

Chapter 4

"Where the hell were you? You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!" she sharply whispered at him.

"Is it our turn yet?"

"No."

"Well then, I'm early." Sakura stared at him in disbelief. He was late for everything during their marriage, and nothing about him had changed. She was sure that he was at work.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"At work. I had to type up some stuff." See, she was right.

Itachi turned his attention to the crowd of little critters and caught a glimpse of his daughter waving madly at him. He smiled back and puckered his lips at her.

"Next," their teacher announced. "We'll have Uchiha Sakura, Komachi's mother." Said woman rolled her eyes and approached the teacher before facing the class.

"It's _Haruno_ Sakura."

"Oh, my apologies."

"Of course." Haruno forced a smiled and then swiveled around to the children. "Good afternoon everyone."

"Good afternoon Mrs. Uchiha," the children roared their reply. She stopped and blinked. _Breathe, just breathe _she told herself.

"Can anyone guess what I am?" A young boy shot up from his seat and answered.

"A doctor!"

"That's right. I'm a doctor. If you visit the Konoha General Hospital, you'd see me there. I deal with patients of ages thirteen and up. Since you all are under that age, you would go to see a pediatrician, which is a child doctor." Komachi beamed brightly at her mother, with pride. "So, if your teacher was sick, she would come to the hospital and see me. She would tell me the symptoms that she is suffering from and I would tell her what is wrong, and I would prescribe medication and treatment to her, so that she would feel better."

"Cool," a little girl muttered while listening to Sakura.

"Being a doctor is a lot of responsibility, since you are dealing with people's lives. It can also be a lot of stress. But it's a good way to meet people." She paused and looked back at Itachi before finishing herself. "It's a great way to help our society, by helping people."

She glanced at the teacher to signal that she was done. The woman stepped forward and began to speak.

"Any questions for Mrs. Uchiha... I mean Ms. Haruno?"

"Do you give away lollipops like Dr. Hyuuga?"

"No I don't."

"Do you cut people open, like on television?"

"Yes, I do. It's called surgery."

"After fixing them up, do they stay like that until they get a scab?"

Sakura chuckled before responding. "No. We sew them up with a special kind of wire." After this, the class was quiet.

"I believe the you are finished, Ms. Haruno." The teacher glimpsed at the man with dark hair and nodded at him to continue. "Next, we'll be having..."

"Detective Uchiha." He stepped to the front of the class and faced them with a stern expression. "Good afternoon children."

"Good afternoon Detective Uchiha."

"As you can see by my uniform, I am a police officer slash detective and it is my obligation to preserve the city. I accomplish such things by interrogating whomever necessary to retrieve data. Myself, as well as my contemporaries, scrutinize the data and with that, are capable of unearthing the felons and chastise them according to the degree of their misdemeanor."

He scanned the class, an eyebrow raising at the amounts of jaws, of students, that had dropped to the floor.

"Uhh," the teacher started. "Any questions?"

A boy shot his hand up in the air and asked his question. "What do you do?"

"I'll answer that, Detective," the lady cut in as Itachi was about to open his mouth. "Detective Itachi here is a police man. He catches criminals and puts them in jail."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh," the class echoed.

"Which is basically what I just said," he added. "Any more questions?"

"Do you have a gun?"

"Yes, I do." He pulled open his coat and revealed the handgun neatly tucked at his side.

"Detective," the instructor spoke up. "You're not allowed to have that on the school premises."

"But I have a license to carry it." He dug into his pocket and retrieved his badge, flashing it at her and tucking it back into his pocket.

"Very well," she uttered in defeat.

"Awesome! I want to be a police."

"Sure you do, son."

"Have you shot anybody?"

"Sadly yes. He was running away and I had to shoot him. But shooting a felon is not your first option."

"Komachi, you dad is so cool!" the boy who sat adjacent to her whispered in her ear.

"I know," she replied. "He's the coolest dad ever." With no more questions to be asked, Itachi left the floor and stood by Sakura.

"Good job at explaining your job to the children," she remarked, sarcasm rippling off her words.

"Was it too complicated for you to comprehend? I'm sorry."

"Whatever."

"Next, we'll have Wakeshima Kotomi, Yuuki's mother."

* * *

After the school's Career day, Itachi whispered over to Sakura that he would be outside at the front of the school with a security booth. With a notepad and pen in hand, Itachi walked up the the tiny box building and knocked on the glass.

The man within the cubicle took his feet off the desk and sat straight, silently telling him to come in.

"Good afternoon sir. Detective Uchiha."

"Yes, yes. What can I do for you?"

"Last Friday, an unfamiliar person picked up Hijikata Hina and has been reported missing."

"Yes, that is true. I feel terrible about that."

"Since you were the only one that saw the person, I need you to describe the person. Man or woman?." After seeing hundreds of parents, he took a rather long time to remember what the person, that came for Hina, looked like.

"I don't know. It was hard to distinguish." he revealed. "Long dark hair."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Sorry, I was not paying that much attention to him."

"Anything else, sir?"

"Pale skin. Dark shades."

"Can you remember the car?" This took more time but by luck, he was able to recall some of the features.

"Black Toyota."

"Anything else?" Itachi asked again, burning the information onto paper and into his memory.

"Alright. Thanks for your cooperation. Have a good day sir."

"You too Detective." With that, he stepped out of the booth only to encounter his daughter running in his direction.

"Daddy!" she cried as she was lifted into the air. "Can we go for ice cream?"

"What did your mother say?"

Komachi imitated her mother, tone and gesture. "No ice cream during the week."

"But?"

"But she doesn't have to know!"

"That's my girl."

"I heard that." They both turned their attention to the doctor approaching them.

"Crap," father and daughter said, in sync.

"What was that, Komachi?"

"Nothing mommy." She shook her head for emphasis.

"Could I spend the day with her, Sakura?" He looked up at her, charcoal piercing jade.

"You had her for the weekend Itachi."

"That's only two and a half days out of seven. I'm only asking to spend some time."

"Itachi—"

"Be reasonable Sakura." He stood before her, eyes persistent as ever. If he couldn't have her, then he should at least have his daughter.

"Please mommy. Can I be with him just for today?"

"Oh alright," she sighed out after consideration. "But I'm coming with you."

Itachi couldn't believe his ears.

"I don't mind that," he responded casually. _Liar. _The man was jumping and skipping in his mind like a little child opening Christmas presents. "Let's go." With Komachi in his arms and Sakura following his, he headed towards the car with a smile on his face. He was going to score this evening. He made sure of it.

* * *

"She looks so happy." Sakura looked on as her daughter swung back and forth.

"Yea..." the man beside her replied. Was that the best he had? He was certain that he could come up with something better than just a "yea".

"So," he started off with a powerful boost. "How was work?" Somewhere along the lines, the balloon of confidence just deflated.

"Work was normal. People coming in, I seeing about them. You?"

"Things are stressful." He switched folded legs and returned to what he was saying. "The guys back at the office are having a hard time solving the case."

"I hope the person is caught soon."

"Yea. I hope so too."

And silence stormed back in. It wasn't just Itachi, but Sakura, too, was trying to make small talk. Even though she disliked him, she hated silence even more, so anything that came to mind would be blurted out.

"Thanks for the ride."

"Yea." Her words clouded his mind, with the aid of their wordless conversation. Flashes of old memories flooded his head. Memories of them in the same park, once in a blue moon. So, he definitely wasn't taking her company for granted again. _Thanks for the ride..._ He remembered their first date. She had said those same four words before kissing his cheek and bidding him a farewell for the night.

Wait a minute. _Thanks for the ride... _If she didn't have her car, then how_ did _she arrive at the school?

"Did you travel?"

"What?" she jerked out as the sudden question.

"How did you reach school if you didn't have the car?" he expanded.

"Oh. Neji dropped me," she answered simply.

"Neji?" He asked softly, while straining to retain his composure. What he really meant was "Who the hell is this man moving on my woman? I'll kill that damned bastard.".

"Dr. Hyuuga, Komachi's paediatrician. Remember?" She quirked an eyebrow as if to prompt his memory.

"Right, right. The homosexual doctor with the brown extensions."

"He's not gay and his hair is real," she barked, protecting her colleague.

"My bad," he chuckled out. "But his hair is really long."

"As if your hair isn't any longer."

"As a matter of fact, it is shorter," he retorted.

"Alright. When was the last time you cut your hair?"

"The last time he slept with a woman."

"Itachi!" Said man was killing himself with laughter at his words.

"What? I was only joking." A few "hehe"s and the unshed tears were wiped away.

"Mommy, can we go for ice cream now?" Komachi had jumped off the swing and crept up to her parents, who were currently sitting on the bench.

"What do you think?"

"Daddy?" She turned her glossy cocoa eyes at her father, and batted then. Good move, Komachi.

"Why not?" he answered with a shrug.

"Yay!" She threw herself on his lap and taunted her mother with a look of victory.

"Fine," Sakura surrendered. "But when you can't sleep tonight, don't come running to me." She then turned to the detective and continued. "And you're paying." Her response made Itachi smirk before picking up his daughter and heading towards the car, only to have Haruno's voice stop him, grinning behind his back. "For me too."

* * *

"Here's your jacket, Itachi." With an outstretched arm, Dr. Haruno held out the said article of clothing, which was eventually accepted by the man before her.

"Thanks. Tell her that I said 'good bye' for me please." He flung the material over his left shoulder and held it there while fishing in his pocket for the keys. "Later, Sakura."

He had already turned around to leave when he heard her stern voice. "Seven-thirty on the dot. Don't forget."

His head swung around, charcoal piercing through her. "I won't, Sakura." And hell, he won't. Bit by bit, her image disappeared at the door was shut. Yet, his eyes lingered at the polished oak.

A smirk crept onto his face. Just like old times where she asked him to pick her up and drop her to work because she didn't have the car at that time. But in this case, her car was at work.

He shoots.

He scores.

And he would have her back in no time.

* * *

Short pink locks were scattered across the pillow of her bed. Thoughts of today's even swarmed her mind. Work, school, park and the ice cream outlet. But work was most prominent in her head.

"It is a lot of stress," she reminded herself.

_But it's a great way to meet people. _

At the hospital. The same way she met him.

_"You've been injuring yourself quite lately Detective." _

_"Well, I do a lot of dirty work." _

_"Like?" Her eyebrow rose with curiosity. _

_"Like taking out the garbage once in a while." _

_"Once in a while?" She rolled his sleeve a little higher, to examine the gash. "Just what were you doing to get this, Detective?" _

_"Oh, I was running down a criminal. And he had a knife in his hand." _

_"Ouch." _

_"Yea." There was a slight pause before Itachi yelped out. "What the hell is that doc?" _

_"It's an anti-bacterial ointment." _

_"Right." She poured out more of the mixture onto the cloth and dabbed it at the wound. She did it with such concentration that she didn't notice the set of eyes staring at her. When she was through, she looked up to meet his heavy gaze. _

_"Would you like to go out?" _

_"Excuse me?" She wasn't sure if she had heard correctly. _

_"Would you like to go out? You know, to the bar, or to catch a movie or something." _

_"I can't." _

_"Oh sorry. I thought you were single." _

_"I am." _

_"Well then, can I have your number? So I can call you just in case something happens to me and I can't come to the hospital." She couldn't believe him. What a lame line to get what he wanted. Despite how stupid it was didn't hold her back from smiling. _

_"Did you just make that up?" _

_"Uhh yea." They both laughed and then quietened. _

_"I'm not supposed to give my number to my patients, so don't tell anyone, kay?" He smirked at her succumbing. _

_"Thanks doc. This will come in handy." He held the slip of paper and shoved it into the pocket of his pants. _

_"Sure." _

* * *

_"Hey doc?" _

_"Who is this?" _

_"It's the detective. I think I'm sick." _

_"Sick?" _

_"Yea, love sick." A laugh was heard on the other end. _

_"And what do you want me to do about it." _

_"Come with me for a few drinks."  
_

He could still remember the way she smelt that night. A sensual scent of vanilla that tempted him to eat her right there. He could still remember the way she looked at him that night. Lush green eyes gazing across into his, absorbing the atmosphere. But, he could still feel the kiss on his cheek that she planted that night. Soft, plush lips against his skin, a burning sensation marring his thoughts.

Fingers nimbly touched the cheek as if seared.

And he was determined.

He was going to get her back.

* * *

A/N: Fourth chapter! Woo hoo! Hoped that you enjoyed it. Sorry if it's too short but you all got some background on how they met :D Please leave comments. They really brighten up my day :)


	5. Girls Are Like Butterflies

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me.

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

* * *

Chapter 5

White clouds sailed passed the clear blue skies. A lovely day to be outside or so Sakura thought. This past week she was stuck in her office with different patients, today's being the worst. A male patient, old enough to be her father, who was blatantly checking her out sent disgusting looks making her want to stab him with the pen in her hand that she was using to write the prescription. Don't get her wrong. She enjoyed what she did, but sometimes it could be a bit too much and take a lot out of her time. And that male doctor, praise him for coming just in time to save her from her insanity. As soon as the patient left her office without her number, Dr. Hyuuga stepped inside and smiled.

"Good afternoon Sakura." Her head shot up at the unusual greeting.

"Good afternoon Neji," She spat out. "And how are you?" Her eyes were widened and large, like those dolls that close their eyes then put to lie down. Neji just needed a glimpse of them, the state of her lightly disheveled hair and the pen in hand, poised to stab someone to assume that something was off. To be on the safe side, he slowly approached the desk with the plastic bag in hand, eyes glued to the office weapon in her hand.

"Is it alright to eat lunch with you?" he asked softly while easing his way to a chair through the volatile atmosphere in the room.

"Why wouldn't it be?" She asked with her head tilted, hand still gripping the item.

"Let me get that for you." Neji placed the bag onto the desk and loosened the grip Sakura had around the pen. "That's better."

"Sorry," She muttered out and ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to smooth out the kinks in her short pink locks. The sigh she breathed out heavily was enough to confirm Neji's idea.

"Tired huh?" His hand reached across to flatten a bump in her hair that she had missed. The action caused Sakura to stop and stare up at him, more blood flowing through the arteries in her cheeks.

"More like fed up." Chocolate eyes caught how she sat back and stretched out like a cat just out of slumber. The way her body curved and flexed within her chair made his eyes darken with calculation.

"Chinese takeout." He finally sat himself opposite to her and fished out the two boxes and pairs of chopsticks.

"Neji..." Sakura was surprised by the act. She understood if he bought her lunch once in a while but the act was becoming a habit of his. But that didn't mean that she didn't like it. She never would've imagined that Neji was so considerate, and even charming like that time at the restaurant. She recalled the words he used to describe her and her face flared up with heat.

"Something wrong?" he asked casually, flashing a look a concern her way.

"No, not at all." She smiled, keeping her thoughts to herself. In the middle of their meal, Sakura looked up at Neji when he asked her his question.

"So, are you busy tonight?" Sakura froze at the sound of his words, the question registering into her mind at the rate of a sloth.

"Come again?" She wasn't positive of what she heard, and had to ask him to repeat the question. Neji chuckled at the moment of stupidity and asked her again.

"Would you like to go out tonight?" He was confident she would say yes. After weeks of planning to get her, her expressions to his everything, he was sure she was ready.

"Uh... well..." She sounded so flustered. An opportunity to get her social life back in order. Hell yes, she had found the man extremely attractive and charming, but it had been ages since she went on a date so she didn't know what to say. She secretly wondered what she did to attract a man like him. Damn, she'd burn up like leaves in a campfire if she went out with him. She had made up her mind but she decided to play with him and see how far he's chase her. "It's been a while since someone took me out."

"All the more reason to go out with me, Sakura." Her heart thumped like a machine gun on fire. "Come on. It'll be fun." She reconsidered her options. Go out with him, get a hot boyfriend or stay home by herself, get a pet cat and rot away for the rest of her life.

"The first one."

"What?" Neji didn't understand her answer and neither would any other man for that matter.

"Oh sorry." She unconsciously licked her lips and finally gave him her consent. "It would be great to go out with you, Neji."

* * *

"Wow, she actually went out with you." Kisame stuffed his mouth with the burger after his comment.

"Yep. Things are definitely looking hopeful," the blond patted his Uchiha friend on the back. "Next time, go out with her _without _Komachi."

"Like she would do that," Sasori responded, eyes droopy.

"I don't want to rush anything." That was the last thing on Itachi's mind, to rush things. He had to take things slowly and cautiously despite that fag of a doctor making a move on his estranged wife. Come on, no man gives a woman a drop for nothing. The man was clearly interested in Sakura and was giving Itachi competition. But he didn't mind that much. Actually, he was thrilled with the challenge. It was like those nature shows, where the female bird would choose which male bird would build a better nest for the eggs but in his case, she would choose the man that showed her the most attention. Damn she was difficult to please, but that made her worth it.

Deidara raised his hand, index finger pointing to the ceiling. "Girls like a butterflies. If you chase them, they'll will fly away but if you leave them, they will eventually come to you."

"Yea, but Sakura ain't no butterfly. Ever seen her get upset? Man, she's a lioness. You gotta tame her." To emphasize his point, Kisame opened his mouth towards Itachi and silently roared at him while his hands clawed at the air.

"She's neither." Itachi paused a while before continuing. "She's a rabbit. She gets mad if you don't give her enough attention." Itachi could just picture a pink rabbit with green eyes ripping away black fur from her companion.

"More like you wanna jump on her and make babies, Itachi." Kisame winked at his partner before laughing madly.

"Shut up fish face."

"My wife's a parrot. She talks too much," Deidara sighed out before slurping on his drink. "Even after sex she wants to talk. She won't stop man. It's like the energizer bunny, though I'd prefer she use the energy in bed and not yapping away."

"T.M.I." Sasori said.

"Going to gym later Itachi?" Deidara asked.

"Can't. Gotta pick up Komachi."

* * *

"Be safe and call me on my cell if you need anything sweetie."

"Yes mommy." Komachi inwardly rolled her eyes.

"Later Sakura." His eyes lingered on her figure before departing. She looked more lively that day than usual. Maybe Neji wrote a song about her and sang it to her. He rolled his eyes in disgust at the thought and quickly discarded it. But Sakura liked those kinds of guys. She was a princess waiting for her knight in shining armor that just happened to fall for the dull detective years ago. He sighed out loud and glanced at his daughter, whose hand was latched onto his as they descended to steps.

As soon as Itachi had closed the door, energy flooded through her blood. She ran up the staircase and broke into her room like a crazed teenage girl on her first date. She felt young again, even though she was only twenty-nine. She wondered what it would be like, would they smile, laugh, connect? Or would the date suck? And if it did suck, they'd still be seeing each other almost everyday, and the thought of their unsuccessful date stuck in their mind.

In about thirty minutes, Dr. Haruno was ready. Pale skin wrapped in red cloth and accentuated with silver. While fixing the strands of cotton candy, three sturdy knocks were heard.

"That's him," she whispered to herself, goose bumps breaking out on her skin. She grabbed her purse from the bed and headed downstairs to meet her date.

"Goodnight Neji." A smile graced her face. Emerald eyes roamed at the attire of her new date. A brown long sleeved shirt accompanied by dark soft pants adorned his body. She took a mental note that he looked handsome in dark clothes. Just like Itachi.

_Ok, where did that come from? _She didn't need anything to do with him right now. He was the last thing on her mind and she didn't want the thought of him coming up during their date and ruining anything.

"Wow," was all he said as his eyes roamed about her, forcing out a blush. "Someone looks nice tonight."

"Thank you." She looked away, flushed.

"Well, let's go."

* * *

"So what did you do today baby?" Itachi lathered the soap onto the washcloth and proceeded to clean his daughter's back. He wanted to know everything about his daughter and everything she did. He wanted to be apart of her life and made every effort to do so with the little time he had with her. If it were one thing he desired, besides Sakura, it would be that she remembered him not as the man that left early and came home late, but as her father, that took the time to get to know her, what she liked, disliked, what made her happy, what made her sad, and what she wanted in life.

"We learned about farm animals."

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

"Funny thing. We talked about animals at the office today."

"Really?"

"Yep." His throat rumbled with laughter at the memory. How the hell did their conversations always reduce to a pile of shit like trying to match the women they loved with animals? Itachi could swear that they were still in high school. "So, tell me five farm animals and I'll pretend to be them."

"Uhm... A cow!" Itachi got on all fours and brought his head up while sounding the animal.

"Moo... moo." Komachi burst out giggling.

"And what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing!" She held her hand to her mouth the lock the laughter in. After eying her suspiciously, Itachi told her to continue. "A duck!"

Itachi got on his feet and stooped while placing his hands under his arms. "Quack quack."

"Daddy!" Komachi screamed as laughter, once again, filled the bathroom.

"Quack quack quack?"

"Daddy! I can't understand you!" Itachi waddled up to the tub and pushed his face up to his daughter's.

"Quack quack quack?" He smiled as his daughter bubbled up more. She brought her tiny wet hands to his face and kissed his cheek. He loved it when she kissed him. It made him feel like a human and not a robot, working all day at work. And god, he loved hearing her laugh, that pure rupture of happiness that he elicited from her. It boosted his confidence and confirmed that he was improving. No one ever taught him how to be a father and he had a poor role model from which to follow example.

"Heh. Time to come out."

"But I only named two animals daddy."

"We'll finish that tomorrow night. And besides, it's getting late." Again, the Uchiha girl pouted before surrendering to her father's instruction. She stood and held out her arms while Itachi fetched her towel to receive her without getting himself wet. During the process of drying her, he yanked at the tub plug, the drain swallowing the soapy water.

* * *

"Gosh, I haven't had a great time like this in years Neji."

"Yea." Neji and Sakura had just come back from the restaurant and he had seen her to her door. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes." She smiled. Would he kiss her? Or just turn around and leave. Everything boiled down to this moment. If he kissed her, she would definitely know that he was interested in her and was bold enough to express his feelings. Coloured eyelids fluttered as the male doctor depleted the proximity between the two. Smooth lips joined his in a soft, chaste kiss that sent jolts of heated electricity along her nerves.

"Sleep well, Princess."

"I will," she whispered sleepily, flushed by their recent interaction and his new nickname for her. Neji smiled before turning on his heels and descending the steps towards his car in the car park. As he was entering, he looked back up at her apartment and saw her waving at him. He waved back, sat himself and drove off, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Finally."

* * *

Lowly eyes stared at the empty space on the bed. His hand stretched for the pillow she used to lay. Where she used to sleep. What she left behind. His hand retreated to his side.

He frowned.

* * *

"We apologize for not being able to find your daughter on time." Itachi stood in front of Mr. and Mrs. Hijikata, the parents of the most recent kidnap victim and now rape and murder victim. "Is there anything we can do for you now?"

"N-No." The man held onto his wife, who has buried her head in his neck, soaking his shirt with her tears.

"Alright then. I hope that everything turns out to be fine." The four detectives said they 'goodbye's and left the residence, entered Deidara's car and headed toward the general hospital. When they arrived they were greeted by the head doctor, Tsunade, who took them to the laboratory.

"Good afternoon detectives." Each of them nodded at the pathologist in front of them. This is the body. She approached the metal table and unveiled the body of the girl, her pale face screaming death at them.

Deidara glanced at the body, and a pang of sympathy shot through his body. "Children shouldn't have to go through things like this."

"That's why we're here Deidara." Itachi patted his partner's back. "Got anything for us to work on doc?"

"I typed up a report." She swung around and collected the brown envelope and handed it to the Uchiha.

"Thanks."

* * *

"Sheesh, what kinda asshole would get off of children?" Kisame slumped back in his chair at the office. Itachi opened the envelope and fished out its contents and read the files.

"No semen, hair or fingerprints found on the body, but like all the other victims, traces of honey found in the mouth."

"Why honey?" Sasori asked.

"Maybe the person's got a fetish for honey," was Kisame's remark.

"Children like sweet things. So maybe he lures them with the honey." The three detectives turned their attention to Itachi after his statement.

"Makes sense," the redhead agreed.

"Alright," the Uchiha started while rising to his feet. "Let's split up, check out the local groceries and meet back here at six."

* * *

"Neji, stop that!" Sakura squealed while twisting her head to the left to shrug off his latched lips on her neck. "You're going to leave a mark."

"That's the idea," Neji whispered into her ear after finishing his work of art. "So other men will know that you're claimed." Other men like the male Uchiha who was still fighting for her.

"Claimed?" She looked at this sternly, eyebrows rose at the choice of word.

"Yea." He held her chin and captured swollen lips. She giggled as his palms roamed south and held her hips firmly. As they broke for air, Sakura gazed into his eyes, vacuumed into the depths of his soul. "Gotta get back to work, doc." He smirked.

"Yea," she replied, breathlessly.

"See you later."

* * *

"Got anything guys?" Itachi sat back behind his desk, feet cocked up on the wood.

"Nothing man."

"Either the cashiers couldn't remember, or there were new cashiers."

"I see." Itachi threw the folder of information on his desk and ran a hand threw his loose bangs. The case was killing him. Not only the paedophile was still running about uncaught, but that he had a daughter of his own that attended the same school as the most recent victim. It ached him that they couldn't save Hina, or the other girls. But he was determined to find the bastard and lynch him.

"Well just work harder. Don't give up guys."

* * *

"See you tomorrow Sakura."

"You too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sakura pulled the cellular phone away from her ear and hung up before placing it on her dresser. Neji had called her about half an hour ago and they had been talking since. Butterflies had fluttered in her stomach while conversing with the man that she was blushing furiously still. And it felt good that someone was paying attention to her. She felt special to someone. She plopped onto he bed and dragged the blanket up on her form before drifting silent to sleep, a smile on her face.

* * *

A/N: That was chapter 5. Hope that you enjoyed it. Tomorrow is my birthday and a great way to celebrate it would be by receiving reviews (hint hint).

Magic 324: I tried XD

ItaSakuxTenshi: Naw, I got the name Komachi Samurai 7. I thought it was such a cute name ^^


	6. Who The Hell Is That?

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me.

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

* * *

Chapter 6

"Good afternoon Sakura." Neji stood at the foot of the entrance to her office, leaning against the doorpost. His eyes delighted in the way she looked up.

"Here for a check up?" Her eyes lazily roamed about his attire. Navy blue shit with black pants accompanied by the infamous white coat, he looked absolutely stunning. And he was all hers to have.

"Wouldn't mind." He smiled, more of a smirk that suggested something more than a check up. "Come here." And she obeyed him, approaching him with hands in pockets while he closed the door and locked it for privacy. His hands found themselves on her hips, fitting perfectly like jigsaw puzzle, while he bent his head to the crook of her neck and blew softly against her skin.

"Neji..." Sakura cooed softly, her hands tightly gripping his coat. She hadn't felt like this in months, safe to say. Lengthy eyelashes descended as the heat sparked arousal within her body, melding with his, as he brought his lips to her ear

"Where do we start, doctor?"

* * *

"Ugh. My head hurts like shit," Deidara bawled while holding his head. Itachi pulled open a drawer from the desk and threw a packet of painkillers at him. "No water?" Itachi rolled his eyes and picked up his water bottle and threw that at him. "Hey, watch it! Can't bruise the pretty boy face."

"Right..." Sasori commented.

"Up to now we haven't found anything. And it's been a week." The Uchiha detective pushed against the desk and rolled on his chair to the wall. Damn he hated it. He and the gang had nothing and as each day of the week had passed, he felt more and more hopeless. He just wanted to catch the criminal and skin him alive.

"Don't kill ya self 'Tachi." Kisame patted his back. "I think you need to take a break."

"A break? How the hell can I take a break?"

"Easy there Itachi," Sasori said. He could feel the waves of stress washing off of his friend. And he could understand. He knew that his friend took his job way too seriously. To Itachi, work was life. He took it on as an added responsibility and it wasn't his fault. His father forced him into detective work after noticing his level of intelligence, convincing him that every Uchiha should aspire to protect the citizens of Konoha. And subsequent to the death of his father, Itachi automatically became the chief at the station, courtesy _lovely _inheritance, whether he wanted it or not. And let's not forget Itachi's most recent problem and mission: To get Sakura back, and he was competing against her new buddy from work. "You can do with one. It'll refresh you."

"I say we go to the bar!" Deidara voiced out with a grin.

"Sounds like a plan," Sasori added. "We haven't been to the bar in some time." Sasori was right. The last time he could remember all of them going to the bar was when Itachi became chief, and that was some years ago. With their schedule, it was almost impossible to hang out, let alone get some drinks. If Itachi consented to tonight, they'd have a blast like back in their high school days, just that two of the four were locked down with a woman each. Kisame, on the other hand, was a free bird. It brought back those great memories of them together, indifferent to and content with their surroundings. Going to the bar, it was a great idea.

"Yea. Whaddya say, Itachi?" Kisame asked his friend. "Wanna get some drinks?" Itachi weighed his options. With the case circling him, ready to pounce and devour him, he couldn't find the time to go, but he knew that it would revive and recharge him. A few drinks to loosen the knots in his heavy shoulders tonight and he'd be sharp the next day. He hated to admit it but his friends were right.

"Okay."

"Woo hoo!" Kisame cried out, as if finally winning his friend to the dark side after years of persuasion.

"But only tonight."

* * *

That was one of the best make-outs Sakura ever had in her entire life. She sighed in reflection of their most recent interaction. It seemed to her that Neji was quite experienced and knew where to touch her to make tingle and burn for more. The arm snaked around her waist loosened and retreated to the owner.

"Better get back to work. Lunch break will be over in about five minutes."

"Mmm..." Sakura muttered under her breath, but was still audible to the other person in the room. "Don't go..."

"I have to go, Princess."

"No...." She squeezed him to herself, pushing her almost bare chest to the soft, smooth material of his shirt.

"How about I make it up to you?" His arms soothed the skin on her arms, caressing the flesh and spiking her interest. "Let's go to the bar, drinks on me. We can continue from where we left off, if that's want you wanted." The invitation stopped Sakura's whining and left her dead in her tracks. The temptation seeped deeper into her mind and formed a sinful smile on her face.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll pick you up at around seven." He held her chin and pecked her lips. "Stay sweet." He gave her a wink before exiting her office.

Sakura packed her handbag with a smile. Life seemed so much more exciting, now that she and Neji were dating. The way he looked at her and showered her with attention dragged her to him. She would definitely look forward to tonight.

* * *

"Looks like someone gave you another drop," Itachi stated, sarcasm obvious in his tone. "You look happy."

"Can't I be happy Itachi?" Sakura smiled at him, while they both waited for their daughter to come from the bathroom. As soon as she laid eyes on her father, Komachi ran as quickly as her legs could take her, and lunged herself at the man.

"Daddy!"

"Hey baby. How are you?"

"I'm great."

"That's good." The detective turned towards the woman in front of him. He hadn't seen Sakura smile like that in months, or genuinely smile like that. It tormented his curiosity. And his jealousy toward her co-worker that was able to see her almost everyday unlike him who only saw her for 5 minutes twice a week. And the fact that she hated him.

"Take care of yourself. Later."

"Alright." And the door closed. With Komachi slung on his left hip, he descended the stairs and into the car park he went. "Baby, do you mind staying with grandma for the evening? Daddy is going to hang out with the guys."

"I don't mind."

"Thanks." He pressed the button on the keys and unlocked the car. He then seated his daughter in front, who immediately strapped on the safety belt by herself after months of training. After that, he sat himself in the car and repeated his daughter's actions before feeding the engine gas and driving off.

* * *

"Looks who's early!" Kisame sarcastically screeched after catching sight of the incoming Uchiha in the bar. As soon as Itachi entered, he caught the numbers present, the scent of smoke and as he approached his friends at the bar, the scent of alcohol hit him strongly, especially from Kisame.

"Is he drunk already?" Itachi asked while taking a stool with his co-workers. "I'll have a beer," he told the waiter.

"You need to unwiiiind maaaan." Kisame slapped his back, causing Itachi to almost fall off his stool.

"Okay, Kisame" Itachi replied, rather irritated by the action before picking up the beer as soon as it was served.

"Damn," Deidara whispered as an attractive woman, tightly clad in black passed by. "She's got the goods."

"And your wife?" Sasori reminded him.

"She's fine," he responded casually, picking up his beverage.

"Knowing your wife, she'd gorge our your eyes if she heard you saying that about a woman other than herself." At that, Kisame burst out with laughter.

"Well, she doesn't have to find out." Deidara took a sip of his drink and then looked at Itachi.

"How did today go?"

"What do you mean?" The Uchiha brought the bottle to his lips and tilted it, the cold, relaxing fluid running down his throat.

"You know... Sakura."

"Oh."

"Oh?" Sasori asked, sensing that something happened but that his friend didn't want to talk about it.

"Nothing much happened today. Same old, same old." Sasori was definitely correct.

"Gotta start working on her before she slips away man," Deidara stated. Unknown to the others, Itachi was suspecting that she was slipping away from him.

"Don't worry man," Kisame soothed. "There's are lot of fish in the sea."

"Unfortunately for me, that line applies only to your kind Kisame," Itachi responded intelligently receiving chuckles from the blond.

"You'll get her back man."

"Or not," Sasori stated while looked at the entrance. All heads turned to what Sasori was viewing.

"Who the hell is that?" Deidara questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Looks like Sakura got herself a boyfriend," Sasori commented, indifferent to the fact. The three detectives glanced over at Itachi, who was still staring, _glaring_ at the brunette that was holding _his _Sakura.

"Bastard," Itachi whispered for only his peers to hear.

"Whoa, take it easy Itachi. Don't do anything rash," Deidara advised.

"We should observe from a distance," Sasori added.

"I say you punch 'im in the nose."

"Whatever." Itachi swung around and faced the bartender and ordered another drink. As far as he was concerned, he was way too stressed out to freak out. All was silent except for the blaring music and the faint laughter erupting from the table where she and her date sat. Tension fell upon the four of them, and the three men saw it fit to not say anything.

Thirty minutes of this volatile situation and Itachi witnessed the man who accompanied Sakura walk into the bathroom from his peripheral view. He counted to ten before telling the guys that he was going to take a leak. That would be a good way of confronting the bastard. As soon as he pushed the door open, the same man was now zipping down. He stood about a foot away from him and zipped down. The man stole a look at him before returning his attention to himself.

"So how'd you know Sakura?" Itachi asked suddenly. The brunette turned to him and answered.

"I'm her daughter's paediatrician. Actually, we're dating." He shook off the drops of urine that chose to stay before fastening his pants and walking over to the sink, Itachi following his actions. "And you are?"

"I'm her husband." Uchiha squeezed soap into his hand and lathered it.

"Ah, the jackass. I've heard about you." The doctor rinsed his hands of the sweetened alkaline and dried them against his jeans. He was about the leave, his foot holding the door open when he turned around and spoke. "You know, you're a fool for giving her up. Plus, she's great in bed. Don't find much women like that around." And he left.

Itachi stared at the faucet, the water running on his already rinsed hands. Just as the water ran from the tap, so his heart pumped blood throughout his body, increasing every second. He splashed water onto his face to refresh himself of what just happened. "Great in bed?" he whispered to himself, his head hanging. He couldn't believe that Sakura would do something like that. Would she? Did she hate him so much to hurt him? He shook his head as if answering the question, but the image of Sakura's smiling face from today taunted him repeatedly. His head rose slowly, eyes glaring at the reflection in the mirror before him. A tear camouflaged by the beads of water crawling down his face, slowly seeped from his left eye. But his eyes turned darker, as if accepting what happened and with the level of testosterone in his blood, Itachi decided his actions after turning off the tap and leaving the bathroom. He was ready to blow of some steam.

Clenching his fist, Itachi followed and caught up to his opponent and tapped gently on his shoulder. As expected, Neji turned around to see who it was only to see a fist accelerating to his face.

"Shit!" he yelled while holding his nose, capturing the attention of the surrounding people, including Deidara, Sasori and Kisame who ran to the two of them.

"You think it's funny messing up people's lives?" Another punch to his face before the blond held his hands back. Itachi fought the restraint but it seemed that his friend were stronger despite the anger fueling him. He saw Sakura glower at him with fiery eyes before ignoring him completely and attending to her date.

"Easy Itachi. Take it easy man," Deidara spoke softly, attempting to tame the lion that was still fighting to break hold of his grip.

"Neji, are you okay?" Sakura whispered to the man, as she helped him up and sat him down on a chair at their table.

"Why the hell are you dating him?!" Itachi shot her question her but she carried on with her business and refused to even look his way.

"I'm fine, Sakura. Let's just go." Neji hung his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose to stop the bleeding.

"Alright." Sakura pulled more napkins from its holder and placed it into his hand and brought it to his nose. She finally turned to her husband, bewildered but pissed off at his actions. "What is wrong with you, Itachi?" she snapped at him.

"What's wrong with me?" Deidara heard the strain in his voice, formed by a sore throat. He could hear the tears in his voice and decided to let him go and talk it out with his wife with at least some dignity other than being controlled by another man. "What's wrong with me?! I'll tell you what the fuck is wrong! I'm here working my ass off to get you back and you're fucking with our daughter's paediatrician!" She stood in front of him flabbergasted but before she could respond, he walked out the bar.

"Hope he's okay Sakura," Deidara told her before assuring her. "We'll take care of Itachi." Deidara, Sasori and Kisame took their leave, lucky to catch Itachi going into his car.

"What the shit was that man?!" Deidara changed tones while talking to his friend and grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the car while the other two stood to the back.

"Shut up, okay? You have your own wife. You don't know what it's like!" Itachi bit back.

"And that's my fault?" The four of them froze, time ticking slowly. Itachi closed his eyes, willing the tears away before straining to speak.

"Look. I just need to go, okay?" Itachi pulled away from his grip and drove off to his mother's after entering the car.

* * *

"Honey are you alright?" Mikoto asked him after seeing him. She sensed a stirring in her son's spirit and held onto his hand for support.

"I just had a rough night." He refused to make eye contact with his mother, wanting to avoid her discovery of teary eyes. He entered the house, eyes roaming about as if expecting his daughter to pop out.

"Where's Komachi?" He stuck his hands in his pocket and stood in the middle of the living room after venturing further into the house, trying to hide his pained face from the older woman. Mikoto clenched her recently empty hand and desperately wanted to know what happened but she knew her son all too well. She wouldn't force herself on him because it was just worsen the situation. And she didn't want to do that; she just wanted to see him happy, like any other mother. So she decided to leave the situation alone.

"I'll get her for you." She gently patted his shoulder before entering the hall and returning with his daughter, asleep in her arms.

"Thanks mom," Itachi whispered, careful not to wake up his only princess.

"Anytime dear." She said it in a tone that assured Itachi that she meant it. That she was always there for him whenever he needed her. He smiled for her, not wanting to worry her, before leaving her behind, with a frown on her face.

* * *

"What was that about Neji?"

"He started to talk to me in the bathroom. So I told him off." The Hyuuga flicked the indicator took a left turn.

"What did you tell him?"

"That we were going out."

"So why'd he say that we were sleeping together?" Sakura knew that even though Itachi was against the two of them being together, he would not jump to conclusions.

"I told him that we were."

"Why'd you do that for?!" Now she was beyond pissed. Why would Neji lie to him about that? What a jerk! Just great. She sighed inwardly. She had left a jerk to meet another one. "Damn Neji, you didn't have to lie to him."

"What's the big deal? I was trying to get him off of you."

"You still had no right to lie to him. Now he thinks I'm some whore."

"And why is it so important what he thinks of you?" He took a right turn and drove into the compound. "You still have feelings for him don't you," he stated after a while.

"Do _not_ say that Neji."

"Seems so," to which there was no response. He parked the car and ran a hand through his thick brown hair. He'd hate to have to work so hard to get her just for her to leave him. Neji had to apologize, no matter how much he thought that the man deserved it. "Sakura, I shouldn't have said those things. I'm sorry." And there was silence between the two. Sakura was trying to formulate something she could tell him. She didn't want to lose Neji because he was a great guys but what he did was extremely idiotic.

"I know you're just trying to protect me from him," Sakura finally said. "But he's really sensitive, even though he might not show it. Just don't provoke him, please."

"Promise." He stretched out his arm to flick away the stray strands of hair from her face. "Now you're going to have to fix my nose." She laughed.

"You fix it yourself. You got yourself into trouble."

"Come on!"

"I was only joking Neji." She smiled at him before clutching the hand that brushed her hair out of her face.

* * *

"There," Sakura whispered as she had just finished forcing his nose back into its place and applying the appropriate anesthetic.

"Thanks Sakura." He touched it before smiling at her and replacing the bloody tissue with a fresh one from a box. "I guess I better get going." He stood, followed by the female doctor who saw him to the door.

"Get home safely."

"I will." He held her chin and at an angle, caught her soft plush lips.

"Goodnight." And he left, earning a sigh from the Haruno that failed to hide a pang of guilt. And that was all he needed to know, for certain, her feelings toward the male Uchiha.

* * *

**_You never go  
You're always here (suffocating me)  
Under my skin  
I cannot run away  
Fading slowly_**

For the umpteenth time, the cell phone rang, vibrating against the furnished wood. The shuddering of the device paused, only to resume courtesy to another call. Didn't the person on the other end get the message? He wasn't available at that moment. But curiosity got the better of him. Uchiha Itachi rolled to the other end of the bed and checked his mobile for the identity of the missed calls.

**_I'd give it all to you  
Letting go of me  
Reaching as I fall  
I know it's already over now  
Nothing left to lose  
Loving you again  
I know it's already over, already over now_**

Deidara.

He rolled his eyes. Itachi did not have the patience to deal with the blond right then and if he had called once more he would definitely be unable to hold the reigns of his tongue and would tell him off. But as soon as he returned his phone to the side table, it began to ring. Flustered, he grabbed the device and was about to answer with fire when his eyes happened to glance the ID. He stopped everything, all breathing and stared at the screen.

**_My best defense, running from you  
I can't resist, take all you want from me  
Breaking slowly _**

Sakura.

As much as he wanted to answer it, to talk to her, to hear her voice and tell her how much he loved her, anger burned in his heart. Couldn't he just forget the incident that had occurred in the bar and embrace her over the phone and forgive her, while understanding that they had gone their separate ways? Never.

**_I'd give it all to you  
Letting go of me  
Reaching as I fall  
I know it's already over now  
Nothing left to lose  
Loving you again  
I know it's already over, already over now_**

My god, he wanted her so badly but what had happened had deflated his balloon of hope, had made his sweaty-browed attempts futile and worthless. It made everything he had done just fly out the window, but most of all, he let down his daughter. After several heart filled promises to reunite with her mother, Itachi couldn't face Komachi with a true smile, knowing all too well that her mother had already forgotten about him and had gone with some other man who just happened to be her paediatrician.

**_You're all I'm reaching for  
It's already over  
All I'm reaching for  
It's already over now_**

With his decision for the night he pressed the red button, effectively ending the unanswered call and then switching off the mobile device before pelting it across the room. _Damn it._ Why did she have to go and do that? Why couldn't she see that he desperately loved her? Why couldn't she just forgive him and accept him back into her life?

**_I'd give it all to you  
I offer up my soul  
It's already over, already over now_**

He sighed, frustration obvious in his breath, as he plopped onto his bed and clutched his pillow as if holding onto his precious sanity. And he was, because his tears had never seen this world for years.

**_Give it all to you  
Letting go of me  
Reaching as I fall  
I know it's already over now  
Nothing left to lose  
Loving you again!  
I know it's already over now  
It's already over now  
I know it's already over, already over_**

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I got caught up in school work.

I'm a bit pissed right now because I lost 4 chapters, chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10 of this story because it was "stale". Please, that's bull. I hate to have to type it all over but I'm going to have to. But I have mock exams coming up next week so I won't be able to type up anything soon, which means I won't be able to publish anything soon. Sorry about that guys, but I hoped that you were pleased with this chapter, at least I didn't lose chapter 6. Anyways, laterz peeps.


	7. So You're Just Gonna Give Up?

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

* * *

Chapter 7

His eyes slowly opened, squinting in adaptation to the intensity of the sun's rays shooting through the window in his bedroom. As his vision progressed with the sleep being shaken off, the image of a young girl sitting next to him sharpened.

"Komachi?" Itachi mustered all of his strength just to sit up. He held his head, a spell of dizziness taking charge for just a moment. "What day is it?"

"Daddy, it's Sunday." She peered into his eyes, waiting for a response only receiving a heavy sigh. "Are you okay, daddy?" It was a question he was expecting to hear from his daughter but one he didn't want to answer in particular.

"I could be better, honey." An outstretched hand ruffled her locks before cupping her cheek. She frowned. It was a face Itachi never wanted to see but she had every right to. Missing work wasn't something for which Itachi was famous, but everything has its first time. Staying home earned its problem; several calls and voice messages from his colleagues. Just when he thought they had stopped, his phone went off again. So he just took the damn thing off to save himself the trouble. The most productive thing he probably did was bathing Komachi. The rest of the day was spent either in front of the television rotting away or moping in bed, his mind replaying the events that occurred at the bar. It was after some thought, that he had come to a conclusion.

"Uncle Deidara called this morning and asked if you were coming to work."

"Do you want me to?" She nodded repeatedly, exaggerating her answer to him.

"Very well." He exhaled noisily before swinging his feet off the bed and standing to his feet. "You'll bring your homework with you, okay?"

"Yes, daddy." She grinned at him, seeing that he was up and about. And he was, not just in a physical sense but also in an emotional sense. What happened at the bar opened his eyes to see that Sakura had really moved on. And he loved her so much that he'd let her go, let her be happy.

Even if it weren't with him.

But that meant he had broken his promise to her.

"I'm sorry Komachi." He walked off to the bathroom, leaving his daughter to decipher, if possible, what he said.

* * *

"Ya think he's coming today?" Kisame asked before returning to his morning ritual of coffee.

"I talked to Komachi this morning," Deidara replied. "I asked her to convince him to come."

"We'll see." Hazel eyes shifted from the guys and unto the files on his desk. "I just hope he's cool." Those five words summed up all of their feelings towards the Uchiha. They were fully aware of what he was going through and knowing Itachi, he was being hard on himself.

The three men continued their paper work, sorting out various complaints into pending and completed. The case of the paedophile was still on their backs, laughing and jeering at them and this did frustrate them. Kisame chose to voice out his dissatisfaction in the form of a question.

"Man, when are we gonna catch that guy?"

"Soon." The almost unfamiliar voice induced curiosity and caused the necks of the three men to turn in the direction of the door to the office.

"Itachi..." Deidara stood, doubting that the Uchiha was standing before them, daughter in hand. "You're here."

"Well," he replied. "Had to come to work." A brief smile broke out on his face, one that did a pathetic excuse of convincing the guys that all was well concerning him. He let his daughter down and let her run off to a room in the back with her bag strapped onto her back, homework on the way. "Sorry about yesterday. I needed time to think." And with that, he took a seat at his desk and commenced his work.

* * *

He pulled into the parking lot, his heart heavy. As much as he didn't want to, he had to face Sakura when returning their daughter to her. He steadied the hand brakes and sent up the windows. Komachi didn't have to be told what to do. Like a robot, she took of the safety belt strapping her in the car and opened the car, hopping out of it with her school back and shutting the door closed. A sigh and the running of calloused fingers though loose ebony locks and he was ready.

Itachi walked steadily, taking each step at a time unlike his daughter, who ran up the staircase and hurriedly impaled the doorbell with her index finger. A few seconds slipped by and the door swung open. Itachi watched from the side as his daughter entered to be received by her mother.

"Did your father send you?" Her assumption, based on not seeing him, spat out of her mouth.

"I'm right here." He presented himself, hands in pockets, before the woman holding their child.

"Komachi, why don't you unpack your things." Emerald eyes locked with coal, lips slightly bent downward. "Your father and I have something to discuss." On hearing those words, Itachi mentally kicked himself. Of course she would want to 'discuss' things. Yeah, more like yell at him. And as soon as Komachi was nowhere to be seen, she started the onslaught.

"What was Friday evening about, Itachi?" 'Code Inner Sakura, activated' he thought as he witnessed her placing a hand to her hip.

"Sakura." He wiped his sweaty palms against the material of the pocket. "Let's just drop it."

"I will _not_ drop it." Her tone changed, as if giving her command of the situation. She was obviously irritated by the fact that Itachi punched Neji and he didn't even apologize. "You had no right to do that."

"And you have no right to see someone else." Shit. He just fanned the flame. He inwardly rolled his eyes and groaned at his stupid reply.

"Oh, and your my father now?" she asked, her words laced with sarcasm.

"That's not what I meant, Sakura. You know that."

"So what _did _you mean Itachi?" She shifted her weight onto her left leg, curious to hear his answer but he just closed his eyes and held his hands up in defense.

"I'm not doing this Sakura."

"That's right." Her response caught his attention, as he was about to leave. "You don't do anything." The words echoed his head, resounding louder and louder until he couldn't take it any longer.

"Excuse me," he pardoned himself, his voice raised. "I don't do anything? Who worked everyday at the office till eleven o'clock in the night? Who brought home the majority of money to pay the bills? And who the _bloody hell _provided you and Komachi with your every _bloody _need?" His anger grew to the point of sweat breaking out on his forehead, the steam within himself too much to contain.

"It's all about work for you, isn't it? Work, WORK **WORK!"**

"You married a police Sakura. What the hell did you want? A frigging knight in shining armor to sweep you of your feet?!"

"No!" She paused. Sakura was exhausted by now, the argument draining her of her energy causing her to bow her head. And she did the one thing he last expected. "I wanted time," were her words in a whisper. And there it was. He saw a tear struggling to creep down her cheek. "You were never there for Komachi." And slowly, she raised her head, eyes drowning in tears. "You were never there for me Itachi."

"Sakura..." A pang of guilt shot through his body and he reached out to wipe the moisture from her face.

"Don't touch me!" She slapped his hand away, rejected the kind gesture. Just as quickly she turned from angry to sad, she returned to her annoyed self. "I never want to see you again."

Itachi felt as if he had been slapped across the face. He blinked several times, trying to convince himself that he heard someone from across the street say that and not Sakura. But the reality lashed him hard.

"You don't mean that..." The disbelief in his eyes, voice... everything. She couldn't have... His hands extended toward her, and held her framed as if trying to prevent her from falling her apart.

"Go away..." She bit her lip before repeated the order louder and louder, shaking in his grip in frenzy. "Go away!"

"Stop fighting!" The two adults stopped all action and turned their attention to the child leaning on the banister from upstairs. "Why are you fighting?" Her voice was as soft as a feather, but weighty.

"Komachi—" Itachi's attempt to catch Komachi's attention proved to be fruitless as she spun around and ran off to her room, wailing. He stopped in his tracks, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, as his own daughter seemingly rejected.

"Leave." It was one simple word, one simple command but he couldn't bring himself to follow but he knew it was the best thing to do. He hung his head in defeat and uttered, what he thought would be, his last words to her.

"I'm sorry for punching Neji. Tell Komachi that I love her a lot." He looked up at her and finished off his little speech. "Take care of yourself, Sakura." She turned her head away, the sorrow in his eyes a bit too much to bear to look at. The movement spurred a brief thought of her guilt but didn't get far. All she heard was a weak 'good bye' and the shutting of the door and she wondered if she had gone too far.

* * *

He grabbed the steering wheel and ten and two o'clock and bangs his forehead into it. Things hadn't gone according to plan. She was supposed to understand his actions and forgive him and start over. But it was much more complicated than that. What he knew before today was just the tip of the iceberg but Sakura dragged him under the surface and showed him the real problem.

"Damn it..." He leaned back into the seat and replayed what had occurred in his mind. _Go away. _And she sounded like she meant it.

He jumped when he felt a vibrating sensation in his pocket. A hand ventured into the inside pouch and fished out his cellular phone.

"Yea," he answered, his voice nonchalant.

"You okay Itachi?" the person on the other end asked.

"Could be better. I'm about to leave Sakura's place." Itachi's half dead response jolted Deidara to act.

"Let's meet up at the cafe."

* * *

"It's over," Itachi casually said before sipping on his coffee.

"How do you know that?" Deidara grabbed his cup with both hands, letting the heat penetrate his skin. His eyes scrutinized Itachi's facial expression but got nothing.

"She said that she never wanted to see me again." Itachi's nimble fingers played with the wooden stirrer for his drink. "It doesn't matter anymore. She's in love with that man. They can be two happy doctors if they want to."

He blinked and then received a slap to his face. Deidara's action caught his of guard, his bangs flying in the direction of his head.

"What the hell was that for?"

"So you're just gonna give up?" His friend stood from his seat, waiting for his response.

"She doesn't love me anymore. So what do you want me to do?" Itachi retaliated. He couldn't understand his friend. Why was he getting on his case like this? He thought that Deidara would have understood him. And he was right.

"Fight for what you want Itachi." That was his answer as simple as it was. Deidara's facial expression was fierce. "That's what you've always done since I've known you." Their eyes met and he could see the pain in those charcoal eyes of his. "Whenever you wanted something, you always did because you never gave up. Remember that time in high school, when that math teacher was supposed to give you an extra mark. He refused to but you harassed him into giving it to you."

The memory of it made Itachi chuckle lightly. Deidara joined him before seating himself and grabbing his left shoulder.

"You're not gonna let some bastard take away Sakura, are you?" he asked, while vigorously shaking him and attempting to put some life back into his friend.

"No," Itachi replied softly, still knocked down by his emotions. This elicited a roll his cerulean eyes that triggered Deidara to tap his face several time.

"Come on. Show me that you're gonna get Sakura back." Itachi pounded the table and stood, feeling refreshed and awakened.

"I'm gonna get her back," he repeated confidently, broad shoulders and fists.

"Show that piece of shit where he's from." Deidara stood to his feet after Itachi. "Your ass." His signature grin lit up as he witnessed Itachi's renewing and determination. "Let's go." They left their table and walked with bold strides towards the door, with their heads held high and wind gushing through their ebony and blond locks.

"Uhm, excuse me?" The men simultaneously stopped and turned around. Deidara's eye twitched at the pathetic excuse of a man standing before them.

"What?" he asked, annoyed at the man has ruined their moment of glory.

"That will be two dollars please."

* * *

Yea, so this is chapter 7, hope you enjoyed it. Itachi and Sakura had a fight so let's see how things are gonna get resolved, if they are going to ;)

I'm sorry for the extremely late update. As you know, I had mock exams and now the real thing is going on. It'll be finished in the first week of June so I won't be able to organize any chapters during that period. So please bear with me and don't forget to review. Thanks!


	8. I'll Be Seeing You, Komachi

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

* * *

Chapter 8

Disorientation. That was what she was feeling at that moment. A rush of several different emotions flooded though her. Did he deserve it? Was she too tough? One thing for certain, the core of the problem was out but it wasn't her intention to tell him because it made her feel vulnerable. And that was the last thing she wanted. But was taking away the privilege of him being able to see his daughter the right thing? She didn't mean it but the words just spat out of her mouth and what made the sick feeling in her gut worse was his expression. It was as if he'd given up and surrendered to her will.

Sakura sighed loudly but that wasn't the only problem. The weight on her shoulder tripled as she ascended the staircase to address the pending issue with her daughter. She just hoped that Komachi would understand, very unlikely since she was a young child, and not be upset with either parent for fighting.

"Komachi?" she silently cooed towards the door, having faith that her emotions would go passed the polished oak and straight to her heart. No reply. "Honey?" She stood outside, knuckles rapping against the wooden barrier between herself and her goal. "Mommy wants to talk with you."

"I don't want to talk!" Sure Komachi's words were rebellious, but Sakura could sense a hint of sadness in her tone, a sore throat uttering those words in return to her. Sakura's hand fiddled with the doorknob and discovering that the door was unlocked, she decided to invite herself despite her daughter's crystal clear wishes.

"Go away!" Komachi screamed as her mother entered the room. She dived further into the bed, her body in the fetal position and hands clutching a pillow over her head attempting to block out her mother's voice. This became futile when Sakura effortlessly yanked the pillow away from her and tossed it to the foot of the bed. Komachi then proceeded to sit upright on the mattress and fold her arms in complete defiance while wearing a frown.

"I don't want to talk," she whispered with her head turned in the opposite direction of her mother.

"Well, I want to." The older of the two seated herself and decided to make it easy for the both of them. Swiftly, Sakura grabbed her daughter and tickled her with nimble fingers. At first, Komachi resisted with a perfectly straight face but then broke out into a fit of giggles, pleading with her mother to stop. As expected, it stole a whole lot of tension from the room. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yes." Though her answer was simple, it gave Sakura permission to hold her in the lap and hug her. With Komachi in her arms, she then went ahead to deal with the present situation.

"You know that daddy loves you too, right?"

"Yes and I know that daddy loves you very much," she replied most innocently. Sakura licked her suddenly dry lips, uncertain on how to approach that part of the situation. She ran a loving hand through brown locks and jumped in.

"About that Komachi—"

"Daddy promised me that we would go back to his house." Komachi looked up to her mother, anticipating a nod but received a shake of the head. "No?"

"Komachi, there are things that you may not understand." The doctor-mother leaned against the head of the bed for support. "Daddy and I aren't getting back together. "

"Why not?" Teary black eyes gazed up at glassy emeralds that would soon spill with tears were it not for Sakura's emotional strength that she'd gained over time.

"You see Komachi, daddy and I had a disagreement and because of that, we annoy each other. If we continued to live together, we would drive each other crazy."

"But can't you just sort it out. Don't you want to be with daddy?" The tears finally spilt from coal eyes when Komachi's mother placed her hands on her cheeks and told the truth.

"I don't love daddy."

"B-But you have to! He loves you so much!" Komachi just couldn't comprehend why her mother would stop loving her father because of a disagreement.

"Things are more complicated than that honey. But we both love you very much." Sakura quickly wiped away the shed tears with her thumbs. "I know it's hard to understand but try to." Komachi hung her head and remained silent.

"You should probably know this too." Sakura figured that if she was talking it out with her daughter, she might as well tell her everything. "You remember Dr. Hyuuga, your paediatrician?'

"What about him?" Komachi spewed out, not connecting her doctor to the situation.

"Well," Sakura tucked a loose lock of strawberry hair behind her hair, thinking that she was the daughter and Komachi, the mother by the way Komachi questioned about him. "Dr. Hyuuga and I are dating."

"Him?!" She couldn't believe her ears. Why would her mother date him? As far as she was concerned, her father was the only one she was supposed to date.

"Dr. Hyuuga and I like each other."

"But what about daddy?"

"You'll still be able to see him."

"But…." She hung her head, crushed by the fact that they would never return to her father's house, and that they would never be a _real_ family. "It's not fair." Driven by the vigor to get them back together, she looked up and cupped her mother's face, hoping that her words would penetrate the mental block Sakura had against her father. "Daddy really really loves you. Please give him another chance."

"I've given him many chances." She peeled away at the tiny hands from her cheeks and proceeded to kiss the forehead of her only daughter. "You'll understand when you get older." That was it. There was nothing else to discuss and Sakura couldn't bring herself to stay in the same room as her daughter and suffer from the obviously overbearing tension crashing upon her in waves of high frequency. "I hope you can adjust to these differences." Her hand cleared long chocolate bangs from her daughter's face and stood. As she approached the door, the weak sound of sniffling entered her ears. Of course it broke her heart to see her daughter bearing the pains of the separation but she was hoping that her happiness would bring Komachi happiness but her words kept pounding into her mind, branding them to memory. _Daddy really really loves you…_

* * *

The sound of running water stopped. The bath curtain was pulled, revealing the wet and nude Uchiha stepping out from the shower onto the mat. A smirk tugged at his lips. He was confident that that day was going to be a fruitful one. He pulled down a towel and dried off his skin before slinging it around his narrow hips and approached the sink to prepare himself. Having brushed his teeth prior to bathing, he opened the small cabinet and took out the shaving cream and performed the shaving ritual.

After fifteen minutes of preparation, he was then ready to leave and take on the challenge of winning Sakura back. The reminder of encouragement supplied by his coworker and best friend, Deidara, brought a smile to his face. _Don't call tonight, that would be too soon. Call when you're at work and apologize. Women like it when you admit that you were wrong._

He wasn't just going to regurgitate the words. It was true that he was wrong and he knew it better than anyone else. He would reconcile the relationship as friends and slowly work himself into her heart until she'd want him back and not the bastard of a doctor. Yes, that day was definitely going to be great.

* * *

"Here you go." The manila folder plopped onto the desk after being released from the blond man's grasp. "You can get some dirt on him." As Deidara turned to retreat to his desk, a pale hand took up the folder and examined the contents.

"Sent to therapy after father and uncle were sent to jail," the man concluded after speed-reading the information presented to him. "Good work Deidara," he shouted to his partner who in turn shouted back gibberish that was taken to mean 'yea'.

"So when are you calling her?" Itachi glanced at the clock after making eye contact with Sasori.

"I'll call when she's on her lunch break. I don't want to disturb her."

"Oh?" Kisame and Deidara joined the conversation, Deidara taking the comfort of sitting on his friend's desk. "Good move." Itachi rolled his eyes on hearing his words.

"And since when were you a love guru?" Sasori threw his question at the blond, an eyebrow raised in high doubt of his intelligence in that department.

"Well at least I'm married, unlike you two hopeless bastards." Deidara smirked at his comeback, feeling accomplished. Their bickering over getting women started but soon stopped when someone's phone went off. Three of the four men checked their cellular device, muttering soft 'not me's and melodramatically turned toward the male Uchiha, who was currently flabbergasted by the name being shown on the caller ID.

"It's Sakura." For a short moment that seemed like eternity everyone stood still, disbelieving the fact that Sakura would call after what had happened the previous day.

"Answer the damned phone already!" Deidara yelled frantically after hearing the continuous tone. "Put it on loud speaker."

"Okay, okay," Itachi whispered, in an attempted to simmer down the current situation before answering the phone and enabling the loudspeaker function.

"Hey Sakura," he greeted smoothly, earning a thumbs up from his best friend._"_

"_Hey Itachi. How are you?"_

"I'm good. You?"

"_I'm a bit tired." _She chuckled softly, boosting the conversation into a more reassuring direction. The guys grinned their teeth out as they witnessed a one-sided smile tugging of Itachi's lips. Itachi, in turn, mouthed a 'stop it!' to his friends, slightly feeling like some dumb schoolgirl being to which her long time crush was confessing.

"_Anyway, I feel really bad about yesterday and I want to make it up to you."_

"Really?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing but the similarly confused expressions being born by the others' faces confirmed it.

"_Yea. So how about dinner at Friday's with Komachi and myself? Itachi?"_

"Yes, yes. Of course. Dinner at Friday's." He could have kicked himself for being distracted by his friends' rapidly nodding heads to the question as if they wanted to go in his place.

_"Is six-thirty okay?"_

"Yes, that's great. Six-thirty."

_"See you there then."_

"Yes, see you later." _Click._

"HELL YEAH!" Deidara screamed while slapping his back, jerking Itachi forward. "That's what I'm talking about!" Despite in slight pain, Itachi chuckled it off with the rest of the gang. Come on, the chances of Sakura calling him the day after that huge fight would in the negative. After pondering, Itachi concluded that something must have transpired. But honestly, he couldn't give a damn. He had a date with Sakura! He thanks his friends for the encouragement and support and he mentally patted himself on the back for not giving up entirely. Things were going extremely well.

* * *

Clad in grey soft pants and a navy blue shirt that Sakura fancied as well as a splash of cologne, Itachi confidently stepped into the restaurant before whipping his shade off to take a good look at his surroundings. The atmosphere was certainly pleasant, one where he can make a move on Sakura with ease. A lazily ran a hand though his bangs and tucked the shades his shirt pocket.

"Daddy?"

His body swiveled in the direction of the familiar voice, his ears picking up a female childish tone. Before him was a girl, running toward him with a huge grin on her face.

"Daddy!" He stooped down to receive his daughter, propelling herself into his arms.

"Hey baby." He brushed away her now messy bangs and softly kissed her forehead after standing.

"This way," she said while pointing in the direction of the table at which they were seated and with broad shoulders and triumphant music playing in Itachi's head, he strolled towards the corner behind a wooden separation only to hear the music records scratch to a stop.

"Hey Itachi." Said man fought to keep his face straight as his eyes laid upon the male doctor seated next to his wife with his arm around her and no matter how strong and powerful the urge was to kick him right in the balls, he suppressed it not wanting to upset Sakura. So with a quite polite smile and face, though a bit stiff, he returned the greeting to the jackass.

"Hey... Neji." The atmosphere had fallen from comfortable to awkward. Why the hell was he here? And as crazy as it sounded, how the hell was he going woo his wife? Putting those thoughts aside for later, Itachi sat himself down and allowed Komachi to crawl off him to the space adjacent to him.

"Well," Sakura started, not wanting to continue in such an environment. "Now that we're all here, let me explain." At this, Itachi discreetly rolled his eyes telling himself that there was nothing that could excuse Neji's presence that night. "I want us to be friends and that includes you, Komachi."

Komachi had been making faces at Dr. Hyuuga but suddenly stopped on hearing her name. Itachi, who had witnessed this, patted his daughter on the head and applauded her.

"Well done, Komachi."

"Anyway," Sakura said, bringing them back to the main purpose of the dinner. "Neji and Itachi had a not-so-well introduction so I planned this dinner so you can reconcile the relationship and have no hard feelings."

"What relationship?" Itachi muttered under his breath to which the person beside him, Komachi, giggled. He smiled, the knowledge of him being able to make his daughter smile fuel his passion to pursue.

"Itachi?" Sakura asked, like a mother prompting her son to apologize. With that, Itachi cleared his throat and began his apology.

"Neji, I'm sorry for punching you in the nose, even though you deserved it at the time."

"Itachi!" Sakura snapped, his words displeasing her but her boyfriend, who took advantage of the situation, soon calmed her.

"Even though you broke my nose, I forgive you."

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Sakura commented. Neji received a peck on the cheek and smiled, a devious one and instantly Itachi caught on to his act. The bloody doctor was playing the bigger man and pretending to have mercy on him. The sly asshole! Oh no, Itachi wasn't going to let that happen.

"Now that everything's okay, we can eat." Sakura opened her menu after her statement and flipped through the pages until she found her desired meal.

About forty minutes had passed, and they were full and chatting. More like Neji talking and Sakura laughing at his stupid jokes. He glanced beside him to see his daughter idly staring into space while swinging her legs to and fro until she stopped.

"Mommy," she whined. "I have to go pee-pee."

"Komachi, your language," Sakura corrected her daughter. "What do you say?"

"Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom." Her grunt went unheard except by her father, who would have grunted to if his mother spoke to him so harshly, especially in front of a guest.

"Be right back guys." Sakura slid off the seat and waited for Komachi to accompany her to visit the bathroom.

And as soon as they left, Neji began to speak.

"Listen Itachi, I'm only being nice because she said so. So let me tell you one time- Stay away from Sakura."

"And the big bad wolf sheds his sheep's clothing, eh?" Itachi retorted, with a smirk on his face. "Need I remind you, she is still my wife."

"Hn." Neji glanced back to see any sign of the ladies at the little girls' room before talking again. "I'm surprised that she settled for some cheap police like you. Life must be boring in that dumb office, huh?" He leaned forward toward the Uchiha, elbows on the table, instigating the debate.

"It's detective. And I'm the one who's more surprised that she'd date you." There he went, using his verbal bullets to pierce his enemy. "After all, the Hyuuga family has a huge criminal record, not to mention you, _doctor. _You've been to therapy, haven't you. Does Sakura know that you're a little loco up there?" He gestured with his hand and tapped the side of his opponent's head, earning a glare.

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked, brushing off Itachi's words like dust but deep inside, his heart was beating wildly, threatening to burst right out of his chest while his palms were cold sweating. Blood drained from his face while his mind spun restlessly, trying to figure out how Itachi would obtain such secret information. If Sakura knew this, that would be an end to him and he couldn't afford that. And what was worse, Itachi knew that also and could use that knowledge to his advantage.

"Please." The Uchiha chuckled to himself after sipping on his drink, dragging out the tension between the two of them, just waiting for him to break.

"How do you know this?" The doctor's eye twitched relentlessly, the pressure too much to bear. Following Neji's actions, Itachi glimpsed at the bathroom, where Sakura and Komachi were returning.

"I'm a detective. That's what detective do," he replied arrogantly, leaving the man before him speechless. He visibly smirked, letting Neji know that he had won this round.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sakura asked, as she seated herself. She had seen the two men chatting on her way back and it spiked her curiosity.

"How beautiful you look tonight Sakura," Itachi swiftly replied, his voice as smooth as velvet. His eyes met Neji's victory lit up in those coal eyes of his. Sakura doubted that was the topic but let it go. "Oh by the way," Itachi mentioned while maintain eye contact with him. "Neji offered to pay the bill. I said that I was going to but he persisted."

On hearing his, Neji's face screwed up.

"I didn't—" The Hyuuga suddenly stopped his sentence as he received a harsh kick in the shin from the man opposite him. He examined the man, who was oh so innocently helping his daughter to pick out an expensive dessert. He couldn't back out of this, now that Itachi had the upper hand. He would have to play along, for his safety. "I didn't want it to be a strain on you Sakura."

"That's really sweet but I was going to pay since I suggested the dinner." Itachi was only a will away from bursting out in laughter but kept it in and storing it for later. "But if you insist, then go right ahead."

After ordering dessert, Sakura alerted their waiter that they were ready to pay the bill. And of course, Itachi was wicked enough to remind Neji of his responsibility by another kick to the shin and earned another glare.

"Well, looks like our time it up." Itachi stood to his feet and pressed down his shirt to pseudo-iron out the wrinkles formed from sitting down for so long. "Sakura." He approached the female and when she stood, he took her by surprise as he embraced her and pecked her cheek. "We should do this again sometime."

"Yes, yes..." she muttered as she tucked a few stray strands behind her hair after separating from him, feeling a bit flustered from the heat of the act plus the scent that he was wearing.

"Neji," he started, placing a hand to him. Said man reluctantly stuck out his hand to grab his in a firm handshake while seated. "It was a _pleasure_ meeting you, really." His seemingly mature act was rewarded by Sakura's smile, not aware of the tension that lay below the thin sheet of ice. After squeezing the doctor's hand with well-trained muscles built from the gym, Itachi pulled away and swooped up his daughter. They nuzzled noses as a loving gesture before he planted a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Do you have to go?" she whispered while snaking her arms around his neck in an attempt to keep him with her forever.

"Don't worry, I'll be seeing you at the end of this week." She groaned, dissatisfied by his answer, letting her arms retreat. "Don't give your mother trouble, okay?"

"Yes daddy," she replied, her voice like a robot after being trained to repeat those two words. "Hey!" she yelped as she received a poke to her forehead but then broke out in giggles. "Love you daddy."

"Love you too baby." He returned her back onto her seat before retrieving his shades. "Take care of yourself Sakura."

"I will," she answered curtly, pleased with the love display between Itachi and their daughter. "You too." He nodded and placed his shades on left.

* * *

_Why the hell does he know those things? _The hands on the steering wheel tilted to the right, allowing the car to move in that direction. _Why would he be searching me? Maybe he found something that would lead to me.... no. I didn't leave anything behind. _The car slowed to a stop as it was parked into the garage of the owner. _I was very careful not to do that, only honey. Can't do anything with honey._

The man entered his house, most stressed not about his wallet, but about a certain detective. He hooked up his keys before dragging himself up the staircase to the bathroom where the burst through the open door and opened the tap. With cold gushing water, he cupped his hand under the small waterfall and splashed his face with it to attract the blood to his still pale face. Brown drenched bangs stuck to his forehead as chocolate eyes bore into the ones in the mirror, trying to come up with the best reason.

"Why the fuck?!" His hand swept across the surface of the basin in a blaze of fury, knocking down products in the process. "Damn you Uchiha." He collapsed to the floor from the rage pent up in him since this evening. He needed a new plan, since it was obvious to him that the detective had suspected him. He would have to lay low for now, but could not aggravate the Uchiha for fear of exposure. He had to be the last thing in his mind and once he was, he would strike. Took him too damn long to get Sakura for him to miss an opportunity like this and when the situation would be ripe, he would take the child away and have a taste of her. He licked his lips in anticipation, eyes glowing with a sick and twisted evil.

"I'll be seeing you, Komachi."

* * *

JF: Alright! I know I haven't updated in a while but there it was, chapter 8. Longer than the last for sure XD Exams are done (woo hoo) so I will have more time to type and hopefully writer's block won't be on my doorstep XD Well as usual, hoped you enjoyed it and enjoy your summer :)


	9. Detectives Shouldn't Lie

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

Chapter 9

"Aw man, you should have seen his face when I kicked him. It was priceless." Itachi took a sip of Heineken from his chilled bottle after he reported the news to his best friend and mocking the doctor's facial expression with bulged eyes. Deidara, slightly drunk from the beer, laughed along with the Uchiha until tears were spilling out of his eyes.

"Oh my god, I'm crying!" he exclaimed before rattling off with more laughter. He then took a breath, making sure he was conscious of his surroundings, and then continued on a serious note. "That's a good start for you and Sakura. You got to hug her and that's great."

"Yea." Itachi placed the bottled on the table and leaned back, reminiscing on the thought and smiled. "It _was _great," he muttered after sighing to himself. He was awakened from his dreamworld by his friend, who proposed a toast with alcohol in hand.

"A sign of good things to come, Itachi." Another smile tugged at his lips, as he lifted his beer into the air and clanged it softly with the other. The setting was one, which was definitely easy and comfortable, one that further encouraged Itachi, and he knew with effort that he would indeed win the love of his wife. He relished the fact that he was able to make some sort of physical contact with her even if it were just a mere hug, which was much more than mere. And oh! He could not forget the soft smooth skin of her cheek, lightly hued by rouge blush, which he kissed with his lips. As that thought came to mind, he unconsciously touched them before licking them. He could undeniably taste the victory.

His thoughts were broken when his friend interrupted him, who had just gotten off his cellular phone.

"That was the wifey. I gotta go now."

"Alright." The two men stood, placed their beers back on the table and approached the front door. "You sober enough to drive?"

"Who me?" Deidara turned around, faced his comrade and questioned him in a tone as if flabbergasted that he would ask such a question. "I never get drunk!" And ironically, as soon as the words left mouth, he turned around and bumped his head on the door and fell with a loud thud.

"Glad I asked that question," Itachi muttered to himself as he bent down to scoop his knocked out friend and deliver the drunken man to his wife, who will be _most_ pleased.

* * *

"Ah Sakura!" Chief of Medicine, Tsunade, had spotted the said woman in the chaos at the hospital. Mrs. Uchiha or Dr. Haruno, as she preferred, spun her head in the direction of the voice calling out her name and sighted her Boss who, unfortunately for her, seemed to be holding quite a stack of folders. _Crap! _They made eye contact. Now Sakura couldn't pretend that she accidentally didn't hear her boss practically yell her name out and seek the scramble out and hide.

"Yes Doctor?" Sakura so _sweetly_ answered her boss, her eyes bulging out at the countless number of sheets of papers squeezed into each folder.

"Just the woman I was looking for." Tsunade returned the fake smile and shoved the load of material into the woman's hands. "I need you to sort that out by seven tonight."

"Wonderfu--"

"And, there are two surgeries scheduled for tonight. Both of them are transplants," she deceitfully added at the end of it all. "I need you to take charge of it since you are the only one qualified to do it."

"Of course." Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes at the woman who retreated to her office via the elevator. Just great. Being a doctor and receiving one's pay was fantastic but the more money one gets meant the harder one had to perform. And Sakura hated working such late hours and she would have to rush to make dinner for herself and Komachi and then bathe her and....

"Oh crap," she whispered to herself as she approached her office and sat. If she were to work so late then she wouldn't be able to at least pick up her daughter and return to the hospital with her. The distance was too far and Sakura needed all the time she could get to at least skim through at least half of the folders on her desk. So she sat down in her chair and dragged herself, courtesy the wheels, and picked up the receiver of the phone.

* * *

"Quiet guys, it's Sakura." Detective Uchiha had just checked the Caller Identification on his phone and announced it to the rest of the men present at the office.

"Well, answer it already!" Apparently, Deidara seemed to be more excited that Itachi and as soon as the noise level decreased to null, the Uchiha answered the call.

"Hey Sakura."

"_Hey Itachi. How are you?"_

"I'm doing great. How about you?"

_"Ah, I've got a lot of work to do. Which brings me to our conversation. Can you do something for me?"_

"Anything," he replied smoothly.

_"I have to work late and I don't have time to pick up Komachi so I'd really appreciate it if you could pick her up for me."_

"Ah, I'll have to check my schedule and I'll get back to you but most likely I'll be able to do it.

_"Thanks a lot Itachi."_

"Anytime Sakura." End of conversation. Things were going well with his plans. Itachi had Sakura calling him and asking him favours which meant that she could trust and depend on him to deliver. He sighed and thanked God that they were at least communicating again. His humble minute of joy broke with deep puzzlement when Sakura called again.

* * *

_"Anything wrong Sakura?"_

"No, nothing's wrong. Just that Neji overheard me talking with you and asking you to pick up Komachi for me."

_"Uh huh....."_

"Well he's getting off work early today and he offered to pick up Komachi for me. You know, it'll be good for the two of them to get close."

_"Right......."_

"And you yourself said that you have to check your schedule and I don't want to disturb you."

_"Of course you don't want to......."_

"So don't trouble yourself. Neji will be picking her up. But still, thanks."

_"No problem....." _And she hung up.

"Thanks again Neji." She stood and held the collar of his coat, bringing his face closer to hers so that she could kiss him. When she broke the contact he then responded.

"It's my pleasure, Sakura."

* * *

"The damn bastard stole my spotlight." Itachi felt as if he had almost reached the top of a difficult cliff and fell off. "He is not getting away with this."

"But you heard her Itachi," Sasori pointed out. "Neji's going for her.

"Oh no he's not," Itachi defended himself. "I am."

* * *

Stuck in traffic and the rate at he was going, Itachi was oh so certain, as declared in the office,to be able to arrive at his daughter's school before Hyuuga. He sat back and tuned into an appealing radio station and the car sluggishly rolled along the busy road. And for the kazillionth time within the span of ten minutes, he glanced at his watch and let out a cry of stress, to which a driver at his right stared at in great bewilderment in question to his sanity.

"Gotta pick up my daughter," Itachi sheepishly excused himself, to which the driver he was speaking casually nodded in a sign of approval, but his bulged eyes and other facial expressed told a completely different story. Fortunately for the detective, the traffic began to move, as if struggling with injury, passed the green light. Again, he checked his watch before lightly mashing the accelarator. Fifteen minutes until the primary school called but the speed at which he was going, walking to the education centre would have been quicker.

But after thirty minutes if crawling in his Honda, Itachi eventually reached his destination and waited for about five minutes only to realize that Komachi wasn't coming.

"She went with a silver Toyota? That bastard!"

"Er.... my bad?" The guard didn't know what else to say to the angered father who just lost the supposed race.

"Alright," Itachi then responded as if defeated but then spoke up in confidence. "Thanks a lot sir." As Itachi descended the concrete stairs and onto the road, he whipped out his phone and dialled Deidara's number.

_"Yo yo yo. This is Deidara." _Itachi's eyebrow rose slightly, in high doubt that his blond friend would answer a call like that.

"Don't ever say that again."

_"Mmm... fine. What's up? Got Komachi."_

"Nah, that he got there before I did. So I need you to get some information for me."

_"Shoot."_

"His address."

_"Hang on a sec." _Whilst Deidara was retrieving such information, Itachi entered his car, turned on the ignition and sat back with seat belt strapped. _"Got it."_

_

* * *

_

The black Honda drove past quite some lovely houses and slowed down where the house with the appropriate number was attached to the mailbox, a fancy, mint green, two-storey house attached itself to the well-kept land.

"This looks like it." The engine was cut off and the key plucked out of the hole after the lone window was sent up. Itachi opened his car and closed it before setting on the car alarm just for safety's sake. He straightened his clothes and walked with confident in his stance and with a straight face. He was going to win.

_Ding dong. _His finger pushed against the bell. He stood there for quite some time, hearing some various clanging of what seemed to be glass bottles before the owner of the house attended to him.

"And what brings you here, _Itachi_?" the doctor spat out venomously as if in an outrage.

"My daughter, _Neji._" Itachi had answered the man with the same response, poison laced on his tongue.

"I was supposed to pick her up and Sakura will be coming for her."

"Change of plans. I'm taking her home." Neji grimaced. How was he to deny a man his daughter? After a period of time that seemed longer than eternity to him, he finally responded.

"Come inside." Reluctantly, Neji opened the door wide enough for the detective to enter. Itachi had to practically squeeze himself through the little space and consequently rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing here daddy?" a soft feminine voice echoed through the kitchen. On hearing it, Itachi whipped his head around in the particular direction and grinned.

"I've come for you honey." He ensured that he made eye contact with his opponent before stooping and opening his arms wide to receive his daughter who was currently running to him. Once in his arms, he straightened his feet and planted a deep kiss on her cheek.

She giggled and rubbed her nose against her fathers and she herself planted a deep kiss on her fathers cheek with sticky lips, to which Itachi notice.

"What's on your lips?" Itachi inquired while Neji sat down and placed elbows on the wooden table.

"Doctor Hyuuga gave me some ice cream with honey."

"Is that so?" She nodded and smiled before wrapping her arms around his neck, decreasing the proximity between the two. "Hope you haven't been eating out his ice cream and honey."

"Oh no daddy. You should see the number of bottles of honey Doctor Hyuuga has in his cupboard." At her words, Itachi's brow creased with curiosity and Neji's brown eyes flinched before his words spilt out.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a few bottles there," he defended himself, hoping, _praying _that the detective would buy his lie but the glint in his eyes betrayed him. Nevertheless, Itachi seemed to drop the supposed issue and went on his way.

"Later Neji." And with that, Itachi left with his goal in hands but after the front door closed was a different story.

"Sweetie, I want to ask you some questions okay?" Itachi asked softly, not wanting to scare his daughter.

"Did I do something wrong daddy?"

"Oh no, honey. You're okay." He approached the car and took of the alarm while unlocking the vehicle. He let her down into the front seat and stretched the seatbelt across her.

"What's wrong daddy?" Komachi asked with a frown, quite concerned. Itachi stooped once again so that he could speak with her face to face.

"I need you to answer me and try to remember things as best as possible. Okay?" His statement received a curt nod with the wiggling of nervous legs. "Can you tell me how many bottles of honey Doctor Neji had in his cupboard?"

"Uh...." Komachi swung her legs and looked to her left while lifting her right finger to her lips in an attempt to remember. Finally she gave him an answer.

"I'm not sure..... about twenty or so. But I saw him putting more in the cupboard.

"And were the bottles full, half full, almost empty?"

"A lot of them were empty but there were some full." Itachi, with this new and old gained knowledge, assessed and analyzed it and he hated the assumption his mind gave him.

"Alright stay here, I'm coming back." Itachi stood to his feet once again and contemplated his actions. If his hypothesis was indeed correct, he'd have to be quite cautious with his actions. But he needed to know, and needed to know now. So he concluded that he would do some investigation or more like snooping around the doctor's residence for anymore information that would point in the direction of his assumption.

He avoided all windows and quietly stepped across the lawn into the back of the house where he discovered a second garage. Furiously, he searched for a button at the side that would elevate the barrier blocking him and was successful. Unfortunately, the uprising of the garage door caused quite a lot of noise for one snooping around and he cringed as the sound until his eyes landed on a black Toyota, parking neatly in it's place.

"Black Toyota..... dark hair.... pale skin...." Itachi recited the information that he remember only to widen his eyes in extreme doubt. "Oh my god....."

"'Oh my god' what?" Itachi froze on the spot like water being thrown into the air at a temperature plummeting below zero degrees celcius.

"N-Nothing..." He slowly turned on his heel to face the man who appeared to be quite angered.

"What are you doing here?" He stepped closer to the detective, arms folded. "What are you doing in my property?"

"I..I..I.. heard that you have a Toyota and.... and I wanted to see it because... I'm interested in buying one."

"Are you?" Neji questioned his answer. "Detectives shouldn't lie." He stepped closer to Itachi until they were almost nose to nose.

"I... I should be going now. My daughter is waiting for me." Itachi attempted to somewhat discreetly excuse himself from the man. "Take care and nice house by the way."

"_Thank you._" And as Itachi retreated to his car, he could feel the sting of the stare concentrated with hatred on his back and carefully weighed the option that he could be in a dangerous situation. He really didn't want to think about it but his gut was pointing him in that direction. He entered the car without words and drove back to the office with a competent suspect.

* * *

Everyone was quiet, a bit skeptical and slightly pitied Itachi when he told them what had happened at the Doctor's residence. Kisame, Deidara and Sasori were, at that point in time, leaning on his desk and were all avoiding eye contact with their colleague Deidara resorted to scratching his head but couldn't take the silence as each of the three men glanced across at each other, understanding what each were thinking at that point in time.

"Uh... Itachi?" he asked softly, not wanting to upset him.

"What?" he responded curtly. He then noticed the doubtful expressions each man wore on their face. "What?"

"Look man. I know you don't like the guy but you're taking it too far."

"I'm not Deidara. Look at the evidence! He had a cupboard full of honey and the black Toyota that he didn't want me to see. And he fits the description that the guard told us. Long dark hair, pale skin." The three men took a moment to consider the additional information that Itachi mention, which elicited a nod from Sasori.

"He's right." He stood up from desk and walked across the office while speaking his thoughts. "It's possible that Neji is our target. As Itachi mentioned earlier, he does fit the description and he was acting rather peculiarly around him when he discovered the car. Plus, he's a paediatrician so he'd have access to children's information and so on."

"Thank you," Itachi sighed out in relief at the fact that someone was seeing what he was.

"The question is, 'What do we do now?' because we're not positive that he is indeed our target." The questioned weighed heavily on the four men. They couldn't just barge into someone's house and it turns out that he was innocent. If it turns out that he was innocent, they'd be in quite a big pot of boiling water.

"We'll get a warrant to further search the house," Itachi concluded. "Everyone in on the search?" A cheer of 'yes's were heard throughout the office before Itachi contacted his sergeant and the warrant was issued. "Okay guys. Prepare for a break in."

* * *

No I haven't forgotten about the story and yes I'm long overdue but I got lazy during the vacation and now I'm in university doing law :O shock but anyways I might not have the time as I used to before but I'm trying really hard to get the chapters typed up. Hope you enjoyed it and enjoy your day. Don't forget to review, they make my day muchhhh better :D


	10. From The Look Of Things

**Title: **Still Loving You

**Author: **Japanese Fantasy

**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura

**Genre:** Romance, Suspense

**Rating: **T (Teens)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me

**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku

**Universe: **Alternate Universe

**Status: **Incomplete

Chapter 10

The heat of the setting sun burnt through the windows of the male doctor's office at his home despite the recent downpour of rain. The desk was covered with sheets upon sheets of paper in complete disarray. These were an exact portrait of the mind of the doctor – frustration. His hands grabbed whatever was in reach before attempting to hurriedly organize the documents into the appropriate folders. When he heard the machine to the left of the room sound with a light beeping noise, he scrolled across to it on his mobile chair and stood to his feet. He lifted the lid and collected the files from the photocopier before shutting off the machine and pulling out the plug. He then went to his cabinet and stuffed it into a folder before slamming it shut and locking it with the key which was then tossed back into the second drawer of his desk. Neji was on a tight schedule because he had told Sakura to be ready for 7pm and it was already 6:30pm.

* * *

"Komachi, you're father's here!" Sakura bellowed to the child who was currently playing with her dolls in her bedroom upstairs. As soon as the words left her lips, Komachi raced down the staircase and jumped into the arms of her father, who stood at the door adjacent to her mother.

"You have something for me, daddy." Komachi grinned from ear to ear as she held out her hand in expectancy.

"I was hoping that you'd forget, but you got me honey." Itachi smiled as he dug into his pants pocket, with his free hand, and fished out a dollar which elicited the little girl's eyes to sparkle as the dollar was placed into her hand.

"And what is that for, Itachi?" The donation of a dollar to their daughter spiked Sakura's interest into what deal they had been transacting. Itachi had given his daughter the mission to find out when next her mother and the doctor would be going out and the reward for prying out that vital piece of information was one dollar as demanded by Komachi herself to which Itachi could not refuse.

"That's between Komachi and me. Isn't that right baby?" Komachi curtly nodded at his words before receiving a wink from her father, whose sole purpose was just to amplify the curiosity of the woman. A single pink brow raised higher than the other as Sakura folded her arms in dissatisfaction of ignorance of their little secret but nevertheless, she let it go.

"Okay guys, have fun tonight." Sakura smiled at her daughter before Komachi leaned over to kiss her mother's cheek.

"You have fun too Sakura. Be careful." Itachi's statement seemed to be just mere words to Sakura but he knew the full extent of its importance but could not go further to explain for if he did, that would disrupt the whole mission they have planned and intended to do the night of Neji's absence at his house.

As soon as the engine of the car was started, Itachi drove off in the opposite direction of his house and headed for his mother's house, where Komachi would stay while he and the gang did their searching and finding at the doctor's home. Komachi had agreed to it and was rather excited to spend some time with her grandmother and maybe Uncle Sasuke, if he proved to be entertaining enough.

* * *

Dusk was in the air and a full moon awoke to its job as a lone silver Mazda crawled along the rode and stopped a few feet before its destination – a two-storey house.

"Alright guys, this is it." The stern voice of the Uchiha brought quietness to the group. "Let's review the plan." Three heads bobbed up and down, signaling a positive answer. All four men were attired entirely in black material and each wore black masks. Itachi handed out torch lights and notepads, with pens attached to them, to each man while speaking. "Kisame and Sasori, you take the garage. Deidara and I will take the ground floor. Then we'll meet and explore the first floor. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" they whispered with excitement and adrenaline rushing in their blood throughout their systems as the situation became alive by the mere action of putting on latex gloves distributed by Deidara. Now all they had to do was wait for their suspect to get out of the house and leave before they entered. As each man inspected the house from the outside through binoculars, they noticed that the lights went off before their suspect, dressed quite sharply, opened the front door and exited the house with keys in hand.

"Get ready guys…" Itachi whispered to his fellowmen and each man prepared himself for their mission at hand. "Remember to be quiet and discreet. We don't want the neighbours to hear us." They nodded and cautiously came out from the car as a few moments after their suspect had driven off. One by one, they softly hopped with crouched backs to their destination across the lawn, heads turning frantically to see if anyone had seen them. Fortunately, they arrived at the door step successfully and straightened themselves.

"Kisame, you got the hairpin?" Itachi asked, receiving no response causing his head to swivel in the direction of his blue friend. "Kisame, you_ did _remember to bring the hairpin, right?"

"Uh… I forgot. Sorry there Itachi," Kisame replied, slight guilt laying heavily on him.

"See if this works." Deidara slowly took off his mask revealing soft blond locks in his usual styling. His hand then sought to fish through his hair and pulled out a black pin, handing it to the Uchiha.

"You _use _hairpins Deidara?" Kisame asked, rather amused by the act of a man finding purpose of those things in his hair.

"What's wrong with that? I shampooed my hair this evening and I didn't want it getting all messed up by the mask so I used a few."

"News alert: Deidara is turning gay," Kisame whispered to the other guys, receiving a rough nudge from his colleague of which he spoke

"At least we have one…" Itachi murmured before stooping to the level of the lock and fiddled with it. A click sounded, signaling to everyone that the door was unlocked, Deidara replacing his mask. He then stood up and slowly opened the door and entered, with the others following behind him. Itachi flashed his light across the area of the wall where he remembered the keys were kept on a rack. The keys of a Toyota were soon spotted and taken off the rack before being tossed to the two guys in charge of exploring the garage. "Meet you back here."

"Later." And the two men vanished to the back leaving Deidara and Itachi in the house. They crept along the lawn and to the back where the said garage was located. Torch lights were activated and the light flashed along the walls of the garage door in search of an opening. The same little button was plastered on the wall, begging to be pressed and pressed it was, allowing the door to ascend. Luckily, the full moon was out and served them in identifying the black Toyota.

"There it is," Sasori pointed it out before pressing the button on the car alarm aid. The knobs in the car popped up, allowing access to it. Soon, all the doors of the car were opening and each man took their spot, one in the front and one in the back. They searched for any strange substance of material that might appear in the body of the car but found nothing. They exited the car and moved onto the trunk and their work was paid off. On opening the hood of the trunk, they flashed their lights and discovered several disturbing things. Bottles of anesthesia, needles, cloth, latex gloves, a digital camera and rope were all in a black bag. Sasori whipped out his camera and took several photos of the individual items found. He took the camera, turned it on to look for pictures but the memory was wiped out. Kisame then motioned to Sasori something at the side of the trunk.

"Looks like muddy prints of a sneaker." They closely examined the print along with its contours and concluded that it was in fact the print of a sneaker, and a small one in fact. Kisame took out his measuring tape and placed it alongside the print, reading out the length of the shoe before Sasori went on to take photographs of it with the tape at its side.

"Wait till the guys see this."

Meanwhile, Deidara and Itachi had started their search right in the kitchen. As Itachi had remembered correctly, the cupboard containing the honey should have been to their left and it was. Opening the door, Deidara was dumbstruck as the number of bottles outdid what he thought. "Holy shit…" He opened the door adjacent to it and discovered more bottles, beyond counting. "Either he's the paedophile or he's going to get diabetes…" He lifted the camera from around his neck and peered through the peek hole before taking shots of the discovery. "I take back whatever I said at the office." A few more pictures were taken before Itachi called him over.

"Check this out." Itachi took out boxes of condoms from a drawer across the room. "The average man keeps only one or two boxes, but he has twenty and still counting."

"Twenty? That's sick man," Deidara concluded before letting Itachi place them on the table so he could take pictures of it. After, they went on to search the ground floor but didn't find anything else alarming. At that point, Kisame and Sasori met with them. As they entered the house they made sure to lock back the door after them. Whatever necessary items they took to use were replaced before they proceeded upstairs. Doors to rooms were opened but nothing interesting caught their eye until they came across a study room where a lone desk sat on the floor and a lone cabinet stood up against the wall. The four-man group entered and surrounded the wooden furniture after closing in the door but to their dismay it was locked.

"Must have a key somewhere…" Sasori muttered before approaching the desk and opening random drawers. Hearing the clanging of keys, the redhead felt around for the designated pieces of metal and took it out, dangling it in front of the others with a smirk. He then stepped towards the cabinet and tried each key until the perfect match came about, unfastening the lock. The two doors were swung open and shelves of folders pulled out. The men scanned through each folder by the title of the heading on each tab until an unusual title was spotted by Kisame.

"What's 'Food'?" He took it out and motioned to Sasori to shine his light on the files. His eyes widened suddenly once he saw what the folder contained. A picture of a little girl followed by a picture of the same girl stripped of her clothes, dead. Her name, below the image, was crossed out, emanating the fact that she was taken out. "Oh my god…" This scene had stomped the men until Itachi, himself, flipped through the pages, countless pictures of girls never failing to show up on the next page.

"This bastard is sick…" Deidara muttered under his breath while his eyes were glued to the grotesque images before him. As the number of pages left behind became less and less, the men became more and more familiar with the names of the victims: Kaneshiro Akahana, and Hijikata Hana, Hana being the most recent victim and the last one in the folder. The men looked at each other, suddenly realizing that they were in the very house of the paedophile, in his very office and in his very confidential files.

"We better get copies of these." As stunned as the men were by their discoveries, they swapped back to work mode and furiously searched with their torch lights for a copying machine that could be available in the office. Within seconds, Deidara softly hailed out the guys, drawing their attention to a corner of the room. Several times he attempted to switch on the copier only to realize that the plug was not inserted into the outlet. Once he attached the plug, he then successfully switched it on and went on to photocopy the files, one by one.

In the middle of the copying, Sasori jerked out from his stance as his ears picked up the subtle noise of a car entering the garage. "They're here," he whispered to the gang, alerting them of the news.

"Eh!" Deidara cried out before holding his mouth as if to capture the sound that escaped from him.

"How much copies do you have Deidara?" Sasori continued. "Is it enough?"

"Yea," Deidara replied before speaking again. "Someone just put these back into the folder. It's in the same order in which we found them." Kisame took them from his hand and carefully returned them to the correct folder before pushing it back into the correct slot in the cabinet. Itachi took the initiative to look for a window but failed due to an unfortunate lack on them in the room.

"No windows, guys."

The sound of feminine laughter and jingling keys caused their hearts to skip a beat as they fumbled about the office in the darkness. Deidara quickened his pace and gathered the prepared copies, folded then and stuffed then into the pocket of his pants before joined the rest of the guys. They would have to exit the office most cautiously and find a room with windows and exit via that.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Neji had already entered the house. Neji flicked the switch and the lights in the kitchen area were turned on.

"I love your kitchen!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's so spacious. Mine is so cramped and I hardly have room to move about when I'm cooking."

"I'm glad you like it. I'll show you to the living room." Taking her hand in his, he slowly led her to the said area and to a seat on the couch. "Wine?"

"Of course," Sakura replied with a smile before her boyfriend left only to return with two glasses of sparking liquid. "Thanks" she whispered while accepting the drink from his hand. Neji took a seat to her right her and draped his left arm around her, to which Sakura snuggled. After sipping on his wine, he placed it on a nearby table. Sakura followed suit and turned to him, raking her left hand in his long brown locks. He then held her chin and closed in on the proximity between them and captured her lips in a chaste kiss while his hand drifted to the curve of her hip, finding rest there. Sakura thrust herself on top of him, not having such intimate contact in quite some time. As Neji lay on his back, she straddled his hips before diving in for another kiss, this time a more heated and passionate one.

Neji then abruptly pulled away from her and angled his head so that he was looking upstairs.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, concerned about whether she had done something wrong.

"I heard some shuffling upstairs…..It's probably my imagination."

"Are you hiding another woman upstairs?" Sakura posed the question, jokingly to which Neji responded with a 'no'. "Then it's nothing." She smirked and tucked some of his hair behind his ear before returning to her activity.

While they thought that the noise was nothing, the foursome knew that it was them. Countless times they walked into walls and bumped into each other and cursed silently, but were grateful that the bastard paedophile hadn't decided to check out from what the noise was emanating. Itachi, on the other hand, wanted to pull Sakura off Neji and beat the shit out of him but he'd have to leave that wish for another time as then was not the most appropriate of times to be doing such a deed. They slowly approached what they soon discovered as the bathroom which, fortunately for them, had windows.

"Thank God," Kisame whispered behind closed doors once all of them were inside the room. Sasori walked toward the window and examined it before concluding that it was possible for each of them to pass through.

"Alright, how are we doing this?" he asked, to which Itachi responded.

"Once you reach the ground, you roll so the force doesn't hurt you. Got it people?" he advised them. Then they discussed in which order they would be exiting through the window: Sasori, Itachi, Kisame and then Deidara. Things seemed to look well until Deidara spoke up.

"Uh guys…"

"What is it Deidara?" Itachi asked.

"Uh… I'm not exactly fond of high places…." The other three men stopped all their actions. Sasori, who already had his leg through the window, stopped and looked back when he heard Deidara say those words.

"Now's not the time for joking Deidara," he commented on his statement.

"I'm not joking guys…."

"Aw… little Dei-Dei is scared of heights," Kisame jeered at him while dancing in front of the said man. Deidara rolled his eyes and refused to respond to Kisame. Itachi then turned to Kisame and instructed him.

"Kisame, you will exit before Deidara and you'll have to catch him when he jumps."

"No way, that's gay!" Kisame complained in a hushed tone.

"Doesn't matter. You have to do this. You're the only one strong enough to catch him." Said man groaned softly in defiance to catch a falling male but then sighed, reluctantly agreeing to it. "Wonderful." Itachi then turned to the redhead and nodded, signaling for Sasori to advance. Accepting the indication, Sasori carefully slid out of the window and stepped onto the available ledge while calculating the height of which he had to jump.

"Here goes…" he muttered to himself and with not too much force, he jumped off and did a summersault before landing gracefully on his feet. Kisame, with rolling eyes, murmured the words 'show off' but on the inside he was in awe and decided to put himself up for the challenge. Itachi on the other hand ignored those facts and prepared himself to jump off when Sasori, with keys in pocket, crept off to get the car. A simple leap and a roll on the ground and Itachi picked himself up, dusted off grains of grass and hopped away, cueing Kisame. The slightly blue-tinted skinned man puffed out his chest in pride and stepped out onto the ledge before shooting off in what he believed to be an elegant bound but unfortunately for him, he performed the summersault a tad bit too late and this proved to be in the result of his landing– face down on the ground. Painful moans elicit from the huge man as he turned his head and spit out grass from his mouth.

Deidara, however, was having fear attacks as he stepped onto the ledge, with both hands spread out on both sides, feeling the wall for any little groove that can be used as support. He closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth twice before opening his eyes. The height seemed to double and cerulean eyes widened in horror.

"Don't jump as yet!" Kisame warned his blond friend as quietly as possible. But as Deidara continued to walk sideways like a crab his left foot met with a puddle of water, left from the earlier rain, and unfortunately for him and Kisame, he slipped and fell off the ledge with both arms flailing like a newborn bird learning to fly. His mouth opened in a manly scream as his body obeyed the law of gravity and sped towards the body on the ground.

"Oof!" Kisame managed to breathe out as the body plopped onto him.

"Ohh…. so soft…." Deidara sighed as he clung to the body beneath him did in fact catch him.

"What the hell?"

"What?" Kisame bellowed, forgetting about trying his best to be quiet.

"What?" Deidara asked back in respond, curious as to what Kisame was getting at.

"Didn't you just ask me something?"

"Uh… no."

"Then who did?"

"I did." The two men froze in their positions, though it wasn't that hard for Kisame since there was a freaking body on top of him. Deidara, trying to be discreet but unsuccessful, rolled off his friend and rose his head toward the foreigner.

"Oh… hey there partner…" Deidara muttered sheepishly at the man who stood before them.

"Deidara?" The female voice caused him to turn his head toward the female that stood beside the quite obvious angered male. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh… h-h-hey Sakura." Deidara picked himself up before helping Kisame up. "You _must_ be wondering why Kisame and I are here…"

"I just asked you that," Sakura stated, quite annoyed at the blond's deficiency to answer her.

"Well…." Deidara started off most intelligently, as if he were going to explain the physics of kinetics. "I can tell you that Kisame and I were _not_ spying on you and your _lovely_ boyfriend." And he finished off his statement with a smile that screwed up his face. Neji, on hearing his words, felt his left eye twitching madly, which did not go unnoticed by Kisame who then tried to stop Deidara from babbling his filth of excuses.

"Uh.. Deidara," Kisame softly whispered while tapping his shoulder. "I think you should SHUT UP!"

"Did Itachi send you two?" Sakura asked, assessing the current situation and came to a conclusion with the aid of Deidara's pathetic words of which she thought was a lie. Each of the two men looked at each other and then back at the woman, who had recently folded her arms, with no answer in mind. "Answer me now."

"No ma'am," they replied in unison.

"Just get off my property," Neji finally snaps. The two men happily obeyed and scurried off like mice leaving Neji and Sakura to themselves.

"What took you guys so long? It's been ten minutes." Sasori asked, rather concerned. He and Itachi had been waiting in the car a little way off from the house, Sasori in the driver's seat and Itachi riding shotgun.

"Uh…" Kisame uttered before a long pause.

"Discovered?" Sasori asked, filling in the gap for them, to which he received embarrassed nods. "Thought so. Get in the car. We have more important things to be worried about." Kisame and Deidara exchanged glances as if being scolding for stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.

* * *

After Neji had apologized for the interruption, he had offered to return insider but she refused, saying that she had had enough for one night and wanted to go home. A speedy but successful trip, in which he learned of Deidara's and Kisame's relationship to Itachi , was made to and from her apartment and he soon found himself back at his house. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm himself of the fact that detectives were in his house and he knew that Itachi would not have sent them, he would have been there himself to guide them of whatever he had learnt of his little visit to the house. Pale lids fluttered open as Neji slowly stalked his way up the staircase and to his office. The door was opened and the light switched on. He analyzed everything, from the furniture right down to the arrangement of loose files on his desk. The key was retrieved from the correct drawer and the cabinet opened, with all the folders and files in the correct place and order. He shut the cabinet closed, still unsatisfied with his findings until a lone detail yelled out to him. He approached the photocopier and stooped as his hand stretched out to the cord of the plug. He clearly remembered pulling out the plug from the outlet and here it was attached to it.

"Bastards…." he whispered furiously. "They were here."

* * *

The four men had already arrived at the office and discussed everything that had happened. They all agreed that their actions would have to be discreet. Despite being disturbed, they were content that they were able to put a name and face to the long-feared suspect. It was past 11pm and the sergeant was not in office so they would have to wait until morning for him to issue a warrant for the arrest of Hyuuga Neji. Because of the time, all four of them were rather exhausted, especially from their little adventure. As Itachi was about to retire to his car, Sasori called out to him. Itachi stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Yes Sasori." He looked at the man who was sitting on his chair, deep in thought. The pregnant silence earned the attention of the other two men in the room.

"What is it Sasori?" Deidara asked, the stillness in the atmosphere killing him.

"Something has been bothering me…" Sasori looked up at his friend, the Uchiha, with a frown plastered on his face. The grave tone of his voice was enough for Itachi to know to step towards the speaking man and sit down. "We all agree that Neji is our suspect. For the past thirty minutes, I've been studying his behaviour from what you've told me. Him being a paedophile and being attracting to Sakura doesn't make any sense." Every word that came out of his mouth held captive the concentration of the three men listening. "So I've been thinking and I'm sorry to say this Itachi but I have to…"

Itachi tilted his head in curiosity as to what Sasori was trying to convey and why he was saying 'sorry'. But no amount of apologies could have prepared Itachi for what Sasori was about to say. Eyes widened and realization dawned upon Itachi as he heard Sasori continue on his note, leaving him speechless.

"From the look of things…" Sasori started. "I'd say that Neji is after your daughter."

* * *

Alright! There you have it, chapter 10. Things seem to be getting tense as it continues. I apologise for the late update but I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter. Guys, thanks so much for the reviews, it means a lot to me to hear your feedback and what you think of the chapter. Thanks a lot guys for the support so far. Sometimes I feel like giving up but then I read your comments and get fueled to write XD thanks so much people :)


	11. Fighter

**Title: **Still Loving You  
**Author: **Japanese Fantasy  
**Main Characters/ Pairing: **Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura  
**Genre:** Romance, Suspense  
**Rating: **T (Teens)  
**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me.  
**Summary: **He pleaded with her. "Come back to me, Sakura." ItaSaku  
**Universe: **Alternate Universe  
**Status: **Incomplete

Chapter 11

Itachi continued to stare blankly at Sasori, absorbing the last of the juice of his words. All eyes were in the Uchiha now, as he surveyed the all too plausible theory provided by the red head. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself and come up with evidence to disprove Sasori's most recent hypothesis but everything single detail fell in line with it. _In... out....in... out... _He told himself to breathe since it would pacify the waves of anger threatening to break at the shore of his insanity but the earthquake of pulses rose erratically and triggered a tidal wave of fury to come crashing at the last of his composed demeanor.

"That fucking bastard," he spat out as he stood and would have wiped every file and folder off the table were it not for the restraint of Kisame.

"Cool down buddy..." he soothed his friend while holding his wrists behind his back." You won't be able to think rationally like this."

"I don't need to," Itachi breathed out, exhausted from his failed attempt of trying to wiggle his hands from the vice-like grip of his blue partner.

"We need to think quickly," Sasori warned the gang. "I'm positive that Neji is aware of our suspicion and will either stay low or act without delay, the latter being more probable."

"But we need a warrant to arrest him," Deidara complained. "So how do we deal with this."

Kisame offered to answer after he had released his friend and sat him down his previously used chair. "We found evidence the leads to him so we can assume a warrant. I'm sure the sergeant will understand the situation." He patted Itachi on the head before sitting himself on the edge of the desk. While discussing the topic, all ears tuned in and heard the sound of a roaring engine entering the car park of the police office.

"Who's here so late?" Deidara asked before standing up from his chair and walking out to the front only to see an extremely red-with-anger Sakura pass through the door.

"Where the hell is Itachi?" she asked as she entered the building and slammed her brown handbag on a table nearby. The glare of her eyes was read to punch her estranged husband into the following week. The other three men came outside to attend to the apparent client only to be stopped by the ringing voice of the woman before them. "You!" She pointed towards Itachi and approached him, forehead wrinkled. "What the _hell_ were you thinking?"

"Sakura, you need to listen," Itachi started, his hands latching onto her shoulders as if to shake some common sense into her. "We have a suspect for the rapes that have been plaguing the city and--"

"I didn't ask about that," she interrupted the detective from informing her about their recent discovery after pushing him away and releasing herself from his grip. "Why the hell did you send Deidara and Kisame to spy on Neji and me?" Hands on hip, Sakura shifted her weight to her left foot, expecting a reply.

"I was doing my job out there-"

"Oh and your job is spying on people. There is a limit to what you do Itachi!"

"Sakura..." Deidara spoke up to defend his colleague and best friend, intruding on the verbal fight ensuing between the couple. "There is a high probability that Neji may be the paedophile." Said woman stopped whatever she had been doing and gazed at the blond because of his words.

"You're joking right?" Sakura managed to say between laughter, to which everyone's facial expressions transformed to one of seriousness.

"And we've concluded that he's after Komachi.... hence the reason he has engaged in a relationship with you," Sasori deadpans but instead of invoking worry, Sasori managed to invoke anger much to his dismay.

"So Itachi's been able to brainwash you guys into thinking this?"

"We have evidence," Kisame retorts. "And everything leads to Neji."

"Heh..... this is crazy...." Sakura muttered under her breath. She didn't understand where this was coming from. Be it jealousy or whatever, she was not going to allow anyone, and certainly not this Uchiha, to take away the little bit of happiness she'd managed to have over the month. "Do you really hate Neji that much Itachi? Or do you just want to ruin my life because you can't have me?"

"That has nothing to do with this case Sakura," Itachi curtly replied, his eyebrows furrowing and eyes sharpening. How dare she bring _that _into the conversation. "Can't you see? He's just using you to get to Komachi."

"He is _not _using me, Uchiha," she lashed out and as she was about to shout her mind out she closed her mouth and sighed. "This is ridiculous I'm not doing this. Clearly you are jealous of my relationship with Neji and you want to destroy it," she blindly concluded.

"Could you just listen for once woman?" Itachi snapped out while grabbing her by the arm. "Right now I don't give a damn about your relationship with Neji." For once, Itachi honestly felt that way, especially under these special circumstances. "But the man is after our daughter."

"Are you listening to yourself?" she snapped back. "He is _not _after Komachi. He cares for her!" Sakura closed her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose in complete frustration. She hated how Itachi pinned the false image of the city's paedophile on Neji. He had no right to do that and she was not going to allow him to get away with it but then she sighed, realizing that they were just going in circles. "There's no point to this argument.... I... I don't even know why I here..." she chuckled as if insanity was getting the better of her. "Where's Komachi?" she asked while picking up her handbag and slipping her hand through the handle up to her shoulder.

"She's at my mother's," Itachi answered on spot when Sakura had reached the door. "Why?"

"I'm taking her," she replied curtly as she fished through her handbag for the keys to her car. Itachi stepped forward once as if to stop her but he himself was stopped by her words. "Obviously you are not thinking right and I don't want to leave Komachi in your care." And with that, she exited the building and approached her Mazda.

"You can't do that!" Itachi hollered at her from the entrance of the office but was fully ignored when she entered the vehicle and turned on the ignition. He then ran to the car and proceeded to bang his fists against the windows on her side to gain her attention since shouted refused to do so. But once again, he was ignored as she reversed from the car park and drove off in a hurry. Disbelief ran through his mind but didn't stay for long as he too got his keys and entered his car. The other three men had followed him outside and watched as he reversed out of the car park and onto the road. "Sasori, you're in charge. You know what to do." A nod was received and Itachi drove off into the identical route of Sakura's, to his mother's home while the rest of the gang returned to the office. As Itachi accelerated, he could see the familiar Mazda zoom across the streets and if it weren't for the stupid old man who was driving so slowly, practically dragging his car along the neat asphalt, he would have been able to catch up to the woman.  
____

Back at the Uchiha residence, Mikoto, Sasuke and Komachi were currently situated around the family table finishing their quite delicious dinner. With French toast and scrambled eggs accompanied by hot chocolate, except for Sasuke who preferred coffee, the three Uchihas were quite satisfied and did not need the extras that Mikoto provided just in case her son and granddaughter were not full. She liked to call it mother and grandmother instinct. As she got up from her seat to collect everyone else's dishes, Sasuke stopped her.

"I'll take care of the dishes tonight, mom." Mikoto smiled, smile lines proving her age as a mother of two adult sons. She sighed but surrendered because she knew her son would persist until she would eventually give in so she might as well not waste any time.

"Thanks." She placed her plate and mug on the table for her son before leading Komachi to the living room to spend some time together. Sasuke watched apologetically as his mother, now grown old, walked away from the room with his niece. Despite how much he appreciated all that he had done for him up till now, he felt awful for practically living off her since he had no job and he wanted to repay his mother even if it was something as small as washing up after their meal. After months of sending out several résumés, and not getting any responses, that was more than enough to discourage him but he couldn't give up and he wouldn't.

As he turned the tap of the kitchen sink on, he heard the roaring of an engine near closely and then suddenly stop.

"Strange…." Sasuke mumbled to himself as he turned off the water supply to the sink and dried his hands before seeing to their night visitor. The thought of Itachi crossed his mind but quickly flew out the window as he opened the door and stood up facing a male brunette.

"I've come to pick up Komachi." The stranger took of his shades, revealing dark chocolate eyes that looked anything but friendly.

"And you would be?" Sasuke asked, considered the man before him to be a mad man for thinking that he would hand over his niece to this unknown man.

"I see Sakura didn't mention that I was picking Komachi up." He stuck out his hand to officially greet the man in a handshake. "You must be Sasuke, Itachi's little brother. I'm Neji, Sakura's new boyfriend."

"Ah… the man competing with Itachi. Pleased to meet you." _Not really…. _He thought.

"Likewise." Neji innocently peered into the house, hoping to catch a glimpse of what he came for and was awarded with her full presence with the girl's grandmother.

"Who's this?" Mikoto asked while bearing Komachi in her arms.

"I'm Neji, Sakura's boyfriend. Nice to meet you."

"Yes, yes… _of course_," Mikoto muttered away, obviously upset about seeing the man that stole her son's love away but she nevertheless smiled, dismissing the tension between them. Neji went on to explain why he had shown up at their doorstep, mostly facing the older female.

"Itachi had asked Sakura to go for Komachi because he had late meeting."

"Yes, Itachi did mention that he had something to attend to tonight. Go on."

"But Sakura's car broke down this evening so she asked me to come for Komachi so here I am." He shrugged and shoved his pockets in attempt to create a careless expression.

"Hmm…." Mikoto hummed softly, replaying the words in her head. Neji had to widen his eyes to stop them from twitching in expectancy of their final approval and it was at long last was given it when Mikoto let her granddaughter down to stand up for herself and went inside to retrieve her luggage.

After what seemed like hours for the doctor, Mikoto emerged from inside with what seemed to be an ordinary school bag and handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said to them, relishing in the idea what neither of them knew just to what extent he was being thankful. "Well then Komachi," Neji started off, receiving a frown from the little girl. "Let's go." He held her by the hand and led her outside to his black Corolla and after, entered from the opposite end and drove off.

"Well that was weird…" Sasuke said to no one in particular before closing the door and returning to his promised chore. His mother resorted to the bathroom take a bath. Within mere seconds, the sound of another engine approached the house.

"What does he want this time? My mother?" Sasuke once again turned off the water and dried his hands before attending to their visitor. Slightly pissed off, his emotions were evident in the way he swung open the door and answered the person.

"What is it now?" he barked sharply but regretted it all too soon as his eyes lay upon his pink-haired female friend from high school. "Sakura, how'd you get here?" He stretched his neck to the left and spotted her car outside.

"I drove, idiot." Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows as Sakura bitterly replied to his earlier greeting. She didn't wait for him to invite her in and so she slipped past him into the house and began to search for her daughter.

"I thought your car broke down." Sasuke asked, rather confused, while he closed front door behind him and followed her into the living room. Sakura stopped all actions and turned to face the man before her with a facial expression that read that he had just spoken blasphemy.

"No… my car is perfectly fine. Where'd you get that idea from?" She stood, leaning her weight to one side and her hands fastening themselves to each hip.

"Well, your _boyfriend _told us that," Sasuke answered matter-of-factly with a plain face, underestimating the effect of his simple words.

"Neji was here?" she enquired to which she received a nod in response. "Why?"

Sasuke took a seat on the couch by dumping his body in the single chair and place his hands on the arm rests on either side of the seat. "I wondered the same thing. He said something about Itachi attending to something so he asked you to pick up Komachi but your car broke down this evening so you asked Neji to pick her up instead."

"What?" Emerald eyes widened after hearing unfamiliar words that sounded like gibberish to her.

"Look, that was what the man told us and so he took Komachi."

"But I never asked him to pick her up…" Sakura stated the truth, Itachi's warnings easily slipping into her mind.

"What do you mean?"

"That can't be…. Something must be wrong…" Sakura fished out her cell phone from her handbag and punched in well-known digits before pressing the green button to initiate the call. While she kept hearing the dial tone of a ringing phone, Sasuke's ears picked up yet another car that was being parked in front of their house.

"Well, we seem to be popular tonight, no?" Sasuke muttered before standing to his feet and strolling to the front door to attend to their third visitor for that night.

"Why aren't you answering…" Sakura hung up the call and redialed the digits but a negative response was received – either the person's number was not in service or the person had switched of his or her mobile. She redialed several times but the response was the same.

"Where's Sakura?" Itachi asked rudely as soon as the door was opened for him.

"Well goodnight to you too Itachi," Sasuke sardonically replied before he pointed in the direction of the wanted woman. "Geez…." He closed in the door by simply pushing it in with just enough force for it to swing close by itself and then returning to the living room only to hear Itachi exclaiming in disbelief.

"What?!" This shouting drew the attention of his mother, who emerged from the back with a towel in her hands drying her hair.

"What's the matter Itachi?" Mikoto asked, concerning about her son's apparent uproar with Sakura. She certainly did not want them to be any more distant than they already were and they seemed to be arguing.

"He has her…" was all Sakura could say as she fought to keep back the tears that threatened to burst forth like water from a dam. She clutched her cell phone tightly in her hand, her mind racing to find some other reasonable excuse other than what was the most prominent fact to her.

"Oh my god…." Itachi whispered, gaining the interest of the two ignorant Uchihas.

"Itachi, what's going on?" Sasuke asked, sensing something dreadful by the tones used by both Sakura and Itachi. Itachi held his head as if to make his oncoming headache retreat before responding to his little brother's question.

"Neji is the paedophile we've been trying to identify." This elicited reflex worried comments from his mother while his brother stood there silent, obviously flabbergasted that they had handed Komachi over to the most wanted criminal of the city.

"Are you sure of this?" Mikoto asked, wanted reassurance and to which she received a single nod.

"Oh my god!" Sakura screamed as she couldn't help herself from falling to the ground, weeping noisily. Mikoto and Sasuke rushed to comfort the exceedingly distraught mother and Itachi stood, heavily pondering the present situation. Despite all the worry what filled him, a tiny part of him refused to console his estranged wife since he had warned her about him but duty came first and so he willed himself to dismiss the nagging idea and focus on the situation that demanded more attention.

"When did he leave?"

"Uh… not too long ago. You might still be able to catch him if you hurry," Sasuke stated most confidently, trying to give even the littlest of hope to the parents and at the same time, soothing Sakura by gently rubbing her back. Itachi then faced Sasuke and asked him another question.

"What car did he have?"

"Not sure what make, but it was definitely black."

"Alright, then I'll ask Deidara to round up some officers to help me track him down." Once the phone call was made to his friend, Deidara would organize for ten of the cities best officers to aid his in the chase after a black corollaas seen in the pictures taken, courtesy Sasori. (not sure if Sasuke did see the car in "Back at the Uchihas")

He returned his phone to the pocket of his pants and walked towards the front door before he was stopped by a lone fragile female voice.

"Where are you going?" He spun around and answered off the bat.

"To look for Neji."

"Let me come with you." Itachi contemplated the suggestion but replied negatively. "Itachi please, my daughter is out there!" She stood up with the support of the two nurturers and slowly stepped towards him. "Please…. I want her in my arms…" Itachi closed his eyes, thinking over the implications of her plead while holding the bridge of his nose.

"Fine," he sighed out, receiving a hug that shook him. And he returned the hug, not because he wanted to feel her but because he felt the same way as she did. He wanted to hold his daughter in his arms too, and see her face, smiling brightly without any worries.

"Well if she gets to come, then I want to come too." Sasuke put his desire forward which all was too readily rejected by Itachi. "Oh come on, let me be able to do something worthy in my life and plus, no one touches my niece and gets away with it."

"Oh alright! But let's go _now_," Itachi surrendered to his little brother, kissed his mother 'goodbye' and left with the other two.

Itachi had just gotten off the phone with Deidara and they had confirmed which streets each car would be exploring.

"So where do we start looking?" Sasuke asked, as the adrenaline pumped with his blood through his veins, the excitement getting to his head.

"We start by driving in the area in which he lives." Itachi turned the steering wheel to the left and swung around the corner smoothly only the meet up with traffic at a red light. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath at the light that could cause him to be too late. Seconds felt like days as he waited in the car seat, fiddling with the seatbelt that suddenly felt so restricting. Then a thought came to his head.

"Sasuke, look on the ground for a siren."

"Got it," he replied, while furiously feeling around the ground for the desired item and was awarded with it.

"Turn it on and attach it to the top of the car."

_________________

Neji reclined against a light pole in the gas station with the gas pump attached to the car, feeding fuel to the car. His lips pursed together as he began to whistle a carefree tune at his apparent accomplishment. He brought up his hand and inspected his fingernail for any dirt, a smirk growing on his face. But that smirk was washed away on hearing the shrieking sound of a siren.

"Shit…" he muttered to himself as he yanked out the gas pump, flung the gas pump to the floor and closed the side entrance to the tank of the engine before walking to the door of the car.

"Hey, you have to pay," a gas station attendant alerted him but Neji, in a hurry, completely ignored the man and opened the car door. "Excuse me mister, you haven't paid for the gas." And all too soon, a gun shot was fired at the ceiling above them, warning everyone at the gas station to stay away.

"Shut up or I'll blow your goddamned brains out," Neji threatened, while pointing a handgun, which he retrieved from the inside of his jacket, at the attendant. The attendant, in fear, held up his hands yielding to the man to let him off. "Thank you," Neji whispered to him before smiling and getting into the car.

_________________

"Did you hear that?" Sakura asked, her eyes scanning the left of her, outside the window for the source of the noise.

"Like a gun shot." Sasuke scooted around by Sakura and also peered outside the window before locating their suspect entering the familiar car at a gas station. "There Itachi! The gas station to the left!" And with the authority of the ringing siren, Itachi sped off in the direction of the car attempting the escape them.

"Sasuke," Itachi called while fumbling for his cell phone in his pocket before retrieving it and throwing it in the back. "Call Deidara and tell him where we are following him."

"Got it."

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"What's going on?" Komachi asked as she fiddled with the seatbelt in the passenger's seat.

"Shut up and behave," Neji barked at her, instilling fear into the child while glancing into the rear view mirror to check for Itachi that was trailing him. "Shit…:" he cursed loudly before nearing a right turn and sharply pulling into a back street and applying more force onto the accelerator, commencing the car chase. Komachi on the other hand, went on to attempt to open the door but stopped when he felt something nudging her head. She slowly turned to face him and saw him holding a handgun to her head. "Try anything funny and I'll shoot."

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"Bastard," Itachi whispered as he took the corner sharply after the suspect's car and witnessing him speeding off. With the effect of shifting gears, Itachi's Honda zoomed with renewed vigor and raced off in the direction the Corolla. The bad lighting accompanied by the potholes in the asphalt-paved road proved to be quite challenging as both vehicles zipped across the bumpy stretch way passed the speed limit. The detective trailed behind the car as Neji swerved to the right, and entering back onto the main road, earning many people resorting to blowing the horns of their cars, restlessly, for the two drivers' carelessness and recklessness shown on the road.

Many a time Itachi had to overtake cars and was on the receiving end of shouting and cursing, which Sasuke replied at each time "Likewise!" with Sakura scolding him.

"Oh hell no…" Itachi stated as he observed the black Corolla skid past a red light the proximity between them decreasing exponentially. As he studied the flow of traffic, he caught an opportunity to break the light and therefore took it.

"Itachi, watch out!" Sakura screamed as she saw, to her right, the oncoming cement truck driving at a speed that was sure to make it crash into their car. The blaring of the horn from the monstrous vehicle warned the Honda to move or else be hit but Itachi somehow managed to steer the car greatly to the left without hitting any other cars and was soon back on track to pursuing Neji. Though he was a vast distance behind their suspect, Itachi was still able to see the car and thus know what directions to take.

As they continued to pace, the streets became more and more scarce of other cars and the quality of the roads themselves dropped. Both parties met with quite a few potholes and loose stones in the path. The lighting became worse as few light poles were spotted but did not deter Itachi since he would easy be able to track the car by its brake lights. A few more minutes of raw pursuing and the salty airy breeze blew in their direction as a dock soon came into sight. The foot on the accelerator became heavier as the thought of Neji having prepared an escape boat for himself crossed the Uchiha's mind.

"There," Sasuke pointed out as his finger led the direction to the Corolla that was parked in front of an old wooden warehouse with both front doors wide open. Itachi rushed to park his car adjacent to the other car and jumped out of this in search of a possible row boat by the dock but saw no such piece of escape equipment, which led to the understanding that he was inside the warehouse. He ran back to the car to see the other two outside the car waiting for instructions. He flipped open the right of his jacket and retrieved a black handgun and held it tightly in his right hand while attempting to shove the rest of the crew back into the car against their will.

"Deidara and the others should be here any time. Make sure she doesn't come out of the car," he commanded Sasuke as he closed in the door after both parties had entered the car. Reluctantly, the younger Uchiha brother nodded in response, understanding that Itachi wanted them to be safe. And with that, Itachi loaded his gun and approached the building and opened the door with a loud creek, entering the very warehouse that held possible hopes as well as possible despairs.

Back in the car, Sakura was sulking for the fact that Itachi wouldn't let her come with him. Her daughter was out there in the hands of a ruthless man and she came along all the way just to sit in a car and wait as her blood pressure rose by the second.

"Screw this…" Sakura muttered before glancing across at Sasuke, awaiting the perfect

opportunity to outwit him and escape the car with just enough time to be able to outwit

the Uchiha. With his eyes inspecting the dirt on underneath his nails, Sakura took this

time to burst out from the car and run towards the wooden structure with Sasuke now

realizing the missing woman and shouting after her to 'get back here!'. After no response except one of defiance, Sasuke sighed and went after her not only for her sake but for his, because Itachi would have his head if he didn't.

With the door to the warehouse already opened, Sasuke slipped through the space and into the scantily lit and musty building, the dust in the air threatening him to make him sneeze.

"Sasuke?" he her the female whisper, trying to get capture his position. Within his peripheral view, he caught a glimpse of movement behind a wooden pillar before making out the feminine figure.

"Shhh… you want to give us away?" he asked in a worried tone, stealthily moving over to the woman. He placed his arm around her shoulder, protective mode kicking in while placing the forefinger of his free hand to his closed lips to signal silence. Her sweaty palms stuck to the shirt of the male holding her as she bit her lip, anxiety overcoming her. Sasuke sharply turned his head upwards like a deer hearing the snapping of twigs, when the sound of muffled crying echoed throughout the ground floor.

"That's Koma—" Sakura said before Sasuke clasped his hand over her mouth.

"We need to stay quiet," Sasuke softly scolded her. "I know you're worried but the quieter we are the better chance we have of getting Komachi back." With tears laden with concern gushing down her face, she nodded accepting the sense Sasuke was making despite her will to scream out for her daughter.

"Okay, it seemed as if the sound came from upstairs, so let's go." Sasuke, with extreme care, led Sakura to a staircase discovered by the little light provided by the moonlight streaming through the windows. With the first step, the wooden plank screeched with the added weight. Sasuke then instructed her to take every other step cautiously as to decrease as much noise possible to avoid giving away their position. Once ascending the staircase, Sakura's heartbeat grew proportionally with the number of steps taken until they both came to the first floor, her heartbeat the only thing that was pounding in her ears. "Stay behind me." With his command, Sakura hid herself behind the man as he became a shield for her, clutching the material of his shirt from behind with sweaty palms.

"Move and I shoot."

On demand, both Sasuke and Sakura stood still, Sasuke looking to the side as discreetly as possible to cover Sakura's presence but he was unfortunate in this matter.

"Step to the side where I can see you, Sakura." Having been identified, the woman slowly shifted to the left of the man, fright overtaking her face as realization of the situation suddenly occurred to her. As hard as she could squint in the shadowy upstairs, Sakura was only able to make out a figure of the person standing a few feet in front of her.

"Momm!—"

"Shut up!" The man threatening all parties covered the child's mouth brutally, bruising her lips and eliciting stifled screaming.

"Komachi!" Sakura bawled with a force that thrust her forward, contrary to the command the man had given. The anxious mother caught her balance as her eyes lay on the gun pointed at her.

"Sakura!" her male companion yelled in sheer panic in an attempt to shout some sense into her. Regardless of Neji order for them to be separated, Sasuke grabbed a hold of the woman and held her tightly to him.

"I want her back…." was all Sakura managed to say to him, silently wailing into his shirt, staining the material with bitter tears.

"Look…." Sasuke said aloud, initiating the conversation with their enemy. "You can give her back and we won't say anything. Just please….give her back."

As the night wind blew, chasing away the dark clouds that hid the moon, more of its light streamed into the area, finally revealing the man's face. With eyes widened like saucers and his brown lock disheveled from the long chase, a loud, dark and cruel laughter erupted from his lips.

"'Won't say anything?'" he mocked the younger Uchiha. "Where's your brother? I know he's here. He won't let his precious daughter be taken away by the man who took away his wife now would he?" he asked sardonically, the poison of his words stinging Sakura harshly. His right hand, clasped onto Komachi's mouth, began to drip of the tears of the girl while his left hand pointed the gun to Sasuke when he received no answer from the duo, fury rushing through his veins. "Where is he?!"

"I don't know…" Sasuke answered truthfully, because the whereabouts of his brother were uncertain.

"Don't give me that bullshit!" he retorted while violently shaking his gun in a threatening manner. "Tell me where he is!." All movements stopped abruptly as he grabbed a fistful of Komachi's hair and as the mouth of the gun connected with her head, forcing more tears to spill from both mother and daughter.

"Neji, please!" Sakura screamed, horrified at the situation in which her daughter was placed. "Don't do this!" With her mind racing, Sakura formulated a plan and as risky as it may be, she couldn't give a damn.

"Didn't I say move and I shoot?" Neji reminded her while pulling back the hammer of the handgun with his thumb. "Some people just learn the hard way, no?" Sakura forced herself to stop, with her hands covering her mouth to hush her crying. "As much as I want Komachi, I'd prefer to kill her just to see you distraught and shattered to pieces Sakura," he deadpanned. Said woman witnessed as Neji placed his forefinger on the trigger. "Say 'goodbye' to your mother, Komachi," Neji scoffed with a wicked smile.

And a piercing shriek resonated throughout the warehouse at the sound of gunfire, that of a mother who had just lost her child. Sakura fell to the ground, unable to absorb the entire meaning of what just occurred. Her shoulders quivered with intense pain as tears freely escaped her eyes, with no end.

"Damn you Uchiha…." Neji cursed under his breath, capturing Sasuke's attention. Coal eyes narrowed as their enemy coughed up blood several times before his grip on the child's locks loosened. At first he didn't understand, but as Komachi came running to them, calling out to her mother, the gun slipped from his hand before Neji himself dropped to the floor in defeat, revealing another figure behind the fallen male.

"Looks like I was just in time…" the man sighed out, whipping back him gun into his holster around his waist and running a hand through his sweaty bangs.

"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled out, this being the happiest time to see his older brother. Relief coursed through him as his body relaxed from the tension that founded itself in him. He then stooped with Sakura and hugged the two females in comfort. Itachi examined the body of their enemy before approaching his family.

"Daddy!" Komachi cried out before being released by her mother and lunging herself at her father.

"I'm right here honey, I'm right here…" he soothed as he felt the wetness of her tears seep into the material of his shirt and to his skin. Meanwhile, Sakura used her hands and wiped away the salt water that had stained her face and smiled at him. She then felt a familiar arm around her, one that always brought strength and encouragement. "You okay, Sakura."

"I think I'll be fine in a few minutes…" Sakura muttered out before looking up to him. "Thank you, Itachi." She received a nod along with a smile from the said man. Itachi then gave Komachi back to her mother before standing to his feet and taking out his cell phone to alert the gang.

"Deidara and the others are on the way—"

"Itachi, look out!" Sasuke yelled causing Itachi to spin on his feel only to be faced with a gun from their adversary and being shot in the side. He fell forward, clutching his wound as blood oozed out of the tear in the flesh.

"If I die….," Neji mumbled. "You have to…. die…." The hand holding the gun fell to the floor signifying his real death.

Everything around him became hazy and the voices surrounding him soon began to fade as unconsciousness consumed him.

"Call the ambulance!" Sakura screamed at Sasuke as the sight of Itachi startled her. Medical mode kicked into her as she proceeded to undress his torso delicately, not wanting to further aggravate the wound. With his shirt now gone, Sakura found strength in her arms and tore the material and gently wrapped it around him and tying a tight reef knot above the injury. With eyes closed, Itachi grimaced at the new pressure applied to him but simmered down as his body grew accustomed to it. And the last thing he remembered was being tenderly supported by the lap of the woman he loved.

Sakura felt stupid. And gullible. The reasons were blaringly obvious to her then. For goodness' sake she was in love with a man who preferred to be with her five-year-old daughter. How much lower could she go? She was so wrapped up in her own little world and what she wanted for herself that it clouded her sight and her good judgment and it put her important persons (yes, Itachi had become one from then on because of what had transpired during the last few hours) in serious jeopardy. And she couldn't help but blame herself for everything as the weight of responsibility fell heavily on her shoulders.

"Take it easy, Sakura." Deidara was currently seated adjacent to said woman in the waiting area outside the ICU of the hospital. His hand went to her shoulder to calm her as he watched struggling not to cry. "Itachi will be fine. He's a fighter, he won't give up that easily." She looked across to the man that supported her and she smiled through tears as she cradled her sleeping daughter protectively. "You of all people should know that." Deidara smirked at her, knowing the full measure of the meaning of his words, not just about Itachi's existing situation but his relationship with her.

"Where is Itachi?" The voice of an anxious mother echoed throughout the waiting area. Sasuke, unlike Deidara and Sakura who had accompanied Itachi in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, drove his older brother's car home to relate the incident to their mother and to bring her to the hospital and on the way, Sasuke noted that no one worries like his mother. No one.

"He's undergoing surgery to remove the bullet. Doctor said that it didn't hit any major organs so he should be okay." As soon as those words escaped Deidara's mouth, Mikoto sighed before sitting next to Sakura.

"Are you okay, honey?" she asked concerned for the woman who had undoubtedly been through torment. She wrapped an arm around her and drew her close to herself like a mother hen would when keeping her baby chicks warm. Sakura at first tensed at the sudden contact but then couldn't help the rush of emotions that flooded her and her need for comfort. And Mikoto was just the woman for that. When she saw this, Mikoto proceeded to take Komachi from her mother's lap and on to her own before returning her arm around Sakura, who followed naturally to rest her head on the woman's shoulder. With her positive response, Mikoto kissed her forehead and soothe her with words of assurance. Despite Sakura's relationship with her elder son, Mikoto still loved her as her daughter and made it a responsibility to mother Sakura especially since she didn't have a daughter of her own.

It was after a nerve-racking thirty minutes or so the surgeon, a blond with quite a heavy chest, exited the room and pulled down her surgery mask before smiling at Sakura.

"Is he alright, Tsunade?" Sakura piped up once seeing the woman's appearance, eyes glistening with hope.

"Surgery was successful. We're putting him to rest now so he should be conscious by morning," she replied, reassuring the family and friend.

"Oh, thank God," Mikoto whispered, to which Deidara nodded before contacting Kisame and Sasori to deliver the good news. Once done, Deidara said his farewell and promised to return in the morning. The Uchihas, including Sakura, however stayed for the night, Sakura offering her office to the others while she slept in Itachi's room.

Sakura woke up having the sun's rays directly in her eyes, courtesy to the open blinds in the office. She mewled and lolled her head in the other direction, realizing the slight stiffness in her neck from sleeping badly on the couch but at once her emerald eyes shot open. As she peered around the room, she noticed that she was alone. She stood to her feet and stretched, feeling the tension somewhat dissipate from her muscles. Once outside, she proceeded to the ICU, to where she concluded the others would be. Approaching the patient's room, she could hear Deidara's loud voice followed by Sasuke's grunt of disapproval. But the voice she then heard made her stop in her tracks.

"Where is Sakura?"

"Ah…. she's still sleeping back at her office. Must have had a rough night," she heard Deidara answer. She leaned against the wall adjacent to the door of the room. She wasn't sure why she was hiding. Maybe she was afraid to finally face him after the previous night's events had fully sunken into her system. A feeling of guilt overwhelmed her. How could she face him after everything?

"I want to see her." Her head turned towards the door, her heart weighing heavy on her. She didn't understand why he would want to see her. If she were in his shoes, she would have ignored herself for the rest of her life.

"Itachi…." she whispered to herself, her shoulders trembling from all the emotions bubbling inside her. But she willed herself to stand upright and face him with courage. With the door the only thing separating herself from him, she pushed it opened, granting her the attention of all parties in the room.

"Itachi," she began, eyes connected with his. "I'd like to speak with you alone." Deidara and Sasuke exchanged glances before approaching the door.

"Remember what I said Itachi," Deidara said before leaving with a nod from Itachi. How could he not forget the pounding of Deidara's words 'don't rush it!'

With the door closed, Sakura pulled a chair from the side and placed it beside the bed, to his left, and took a seat before laying her clamped hands on the mattress. He looked bizarre just lying there on a hospital bed with tubes connected to his body. She would have to take it easy or else she wouldn't get the message across to him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice soft and soothing to his ears.

"Tired, but other than that I'm fine." She smiled on hearing his words before looking to a window to distract her current feelings. Itachi noticed her action and read her perfectly.

"How about you?" She returned her attention to him and sighed.

"To be honest, I could be better." The response caused Itachi to study her face and observe sadness in her teary eyes. To her surprise, and to his, he placed his hand, the one closer to her, on her hands, eliciting a small jump from the female.

"Don't hold back Sakura." The whisper triggered a flow of tears from the woman as she laid her head on the mattress and poured out her feelings of frustration and remorse.

"I'm so sorry…" she choked out with eyes closed. "Itachi…" Her eyes fluttered opened as she felt her head being lifted from her chin. Her cast her eyes down, ashamed to even look at him.

"Look at me Sakura."

"But I can't…" She felt that she didn't deserve to look him in the eye.

"Sakura." His voice sounded with authority but was still soft, not wanting to hurt her. Her eyes eventually met with his, and she saw peace in his eyes accompanied by a smile that eased away her tears. "There's no need to cry. Everything will be fine." His warm hand came up to cup her right cheek and wipe away the salty moisture from her face. And she was comforted by his words. She found herself leaning into his hand before again resting her head on the mattress and having Itachi place his hand on her hair. And tranquility came to her, reassuring her that everything would be fine.

After all, he was a fighter.

* * *

Yes yes I know, I'm looooooooong overdue for this chapter but writer's block is one hell of a thing and so is school. Anyway hope you guys are satisfied with the long chapter and the Itasaku fluff at the end :D Yes I know, it's about time! Sad to say but the story is coming to an end, the next chapter will be the last. I apologise for any grammatical and spelling errors, I was in a rush to get it done and submit it XD Please comment and give me your feedback on what you think.


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